South Strabane police arrest alleged Walmart robber
The woman in this photo, the alleged getaway driver, walks out of Sam’s Club, Trinity Point, in front of the alleged robber, who is putting a cup up to his lips minutes before police say he stole a woman’s purse in the Sam’s Club parking lot about 3:45 p.m. Friday.
Ryan Jon Molish
South Strabane Township police believe the Daisytown man they arrested Monday for robbing a woman as she sat in a parked car outside Walmart, Trinity Point, last month had first considered robbing a nearby bank.
Ryan Jon Molish, 24, of 9 Plum Lane, was taken into custody without incident while working at a landscaping job near his home, said township police Detective Ken Torboli.
A woman in her 20s was sitting in the passenger side of a vehicle in the parking lot just after 3 p.m. April 24 , waiting for a family member to finish shopping. A man, later identified as Molish, reached through the open window, grabbed her purse and ran to his car. The woman chased him, and when she tried to grab her purse, Molish allegedly used a stun gun on her neck.
“I truly believe his first plan was to rob a bank,” Torboli said. Tuesday. “He went into multiple area banks where he had no accounts.”
“The staff at Northwest Savings Bank on Murtland Avenue was very instrumental in providing us with information,” he added. “Prior to the robbery, he went in and asked about opening an account. The teller was very heads-up. The bank was able to provide us with information about him and his vehicle, including registration.”
Torboli said the department received cooperation from other banks as well. At the PNC branch, 319 Washington Road, Molish reportedly tried to use one of his credit cards at an automated teller machine. Police also received tips from people who saw media coverage of the robbery.
Molish was arraigned before District Judge Robert Redlinger on charges of robbery, simple assault, reckless endangerment and possessing instruments of a crime. A charge of having an illegal weapon will be added to the complaint. He was placed in Washington County jail on $70,000 bond. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing May 11 before District Judge Jay Weller.
Police are also investigating another robbery, this one about 3:45 p.m. Friday in the parking lot at Sam’s Club, also at Trinity Point. A 71-year-old woman was putting groceries into her vehicle and had her purse in the child seat portion of a shopping cart when a car pulled next to her vehicle. The robber got out of the passenger seat and grabbed her purse.
“She struggled with him but she was knocked to the ground,” Torboli said, adding she was treated at the scene for bumps and bruises.
Several attempts were made to use credit cards she had in her purse. Police are following up on those attempts.
She described the robber as having a darker complexion, possibly being Hispanic, with a ponytail. A woman was driving the gray sedan, possibly a Dodge Stratus, Torboli said. Loss prevention staff at Sam’s Club was able to quickly provide police with surveillance footage.
Anyone with information on Friday’s robbery or who may recognize the two people in the surveillance photograph is asked to call police at 724-225-8111.