Speers man waives escape case to Washington County Court
BENTLEYVILLE – A Speers man who is in custody as a suspect in a string of Mon Valley crimes waived a hearing Tuesday on charges that he escaped from a local court during his arraignment and stole a car in July in Bentleyville.
Christopher Carroll, 23, who appeared before District Judge Curtis Thompson without an attorney Tuesday, decided to forgo a preliminary hearing after meeting with an assistant district attorney.
Carroll, who’s in Washington County Jail on $250,000 bond, is accused of breaking free of authorities at Thompson’s office, where he was being arraigned on charges he participated in an armed robbery at a North Charleroi pizza shop. Bentleyville police said Carroll ran from the court, stole a car from a nearby residential garage and drove it to Rostraver Township, where he had been living in a motel.
He faces charges in Bentleyville of escape, theft and burglary. He also faces a string of other charges, including accusations he participated in an armed robbery at a Rostraver pawn shop and stole a wallet from a Monessen businessman. Carroll has waived most of the cases to courts in Washington and Westmoreland counties.