DNA leads to arrests in armed robbery
State police say they used DNA evidence from cigarette butts and a beer can to connect two men to an armed robbery inside a Monongahela Township home last September.
Police arrested Brennan James Aldrich and Johnathan Theodore Price last week and charged them with the Sept. 6 robbery in which $119,000 in cash was stolen from an Alicia Main Street home.
Police said Aldrich, 24, of Charleroi, and Price, 23, of Allison, were at Mullens Bar in Republic, Fayette County, earlier that evening around the same time the two alleged victims, John Maraney and Ashley Hall, were there. Hall saw a mutual friend, Oshea Thomas, and they spoke briefly before Hall and Maraney left.
Thomas followed them back to their Monongahela Township house, but when they arrived, Aldrich and Price were unexpectedly with him. The alleged victims invited the men into the house for a few drinks and they talked in the living room.
Police said Maraney “became suspicious and retrieved a handgun from his bedroom and placed it on the table.” At some point, Maraney “accidentally” dropped the handgun, prompting the three other men to pull weapons and point them at the victims, police said.
The men ordered Maraney to “take them to his money” and he brought them to a safe that contained two bags with a total of $119,000 in cash, police said. Investigators said the men tied up the victims and took two guns before leaving the house.
Investigators were called to the house and collected eight cigarette butts and two beer cans. They sent the evidence to the state police crime lab for analysis last and the results returned earlier this month showing matches to the DNA of Aldrich and Price.
Police interviewed Thomas, 23, of Republic, shortly after the robbery and he allegedly admitted to committing the heist with Aldrich and Price, helping police tie them to the scene, according to court documents. Thomas, who is currently free on $50,000 bond, is now awaiting trial in Greene County Court on charges of robbery, theft, terroristic threats, simple assault and harassment.
Aldrich and Price were arrested Aug. 16 and face identical charges. They, too, are free on $50,000 bond and were scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing Thursday before Senior District Judge Jesse Cramer, although it was rescheduled to a later date.