Dec 13, 2016 2 min read

BENTLEYVILLE – A Uniontown man who is a suspect in a string of armed robberies in the region had his second court appearance Tuesday on charges he used an Uzi-type handgun to rob a clerk at a Burger King in Bentleyville in March.

District Judge Curtis Thompson accepted a preliminary hearing waiver from Charles Leonard Bell, 51, sending his charges to Washington County Court for disposition.

Bell is accused of walking up to a clerk at the fast-food restaurant at 150 Wilson Road with a gray cap partially covering his eyes and ordering her at gunpoint to give him the money in the cash register, court records show.

The clerk replied that she didn’t have the keys to the cash drawer, resulting in Bell allegedly walking her to the manager’s office to get the keys. He then walked them both at gunpoint back to register before leaving the business with $380, Bentleyville police stated in the affidavit supporting the criminal charges.

Police said Bell and his vehicle’s registration number were captured on video surveillance at several locations at and near the Burger King after the robbery that occurred at about 9:20 p.m. March 23.

Bell, of 74 Lenox St., was charged in August with robbery, making terroristic threats, reckless endangerment, theft and receiving stolen property. He was returned Tuesday to Washington County jail on a state parole violation and $35,000 bond set by Thompson.

Bell also has waived his armed robbery cases in Charleroi and nearby Rostraver Township to higher courts, Bentleyville police said.

He and his alleged accomplice, Wendy Jean Victor, 23, who is homeless, are suspects in as many as nine holdups in southwestern Pennsylvania, authorities have said.