Crime & Safety

Upper St. Clair Gas Station Robbery Suspects Identified

A 19-year-old man was arrested and warrants have been issued for three other suspects. Northern Regional Police say the four are sought for robberies in Washington, PA; Chartiers Township; Wexford and Castle Shannon.

A 19-year-old Washington County man has been arrested and warrants have been issued for three other suspects charged with being involved in multiple robberies, including one in Upper St. Clair, according to Northern Regional Police Chief T. Robert Amann.

The individuals are also suspected in robberies in Wexford, Washington, Chartiers Township and Castle Shannon.

Matthew McDonald was arrested Nov. 21 in Chartiers Township and charged with robbery, criminal conspiracy and theft in the BP case, the chief said. McDonald is being held in the Washington County Jail.

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Amann said police have obtained warrants for three others—Travis Hallam, 19; David Piatt, 21; and Charles Clark Jr., 21. All three are from the Washington, PA, area.

Clark rented the silver Dodge Avenger that the four suspects used to flee from the BP robbery in Wexford, Amann said.

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The employee robbed at the St. Clair Mini Market on Nov. 5 told police the young man that held him up fled in a silver SUV. He said the man demanded money and pointed a gun at him around 8:15 p.m. He got away with more than $600, according to the victim. Police told him they believed the robbery was connected to an earlier robbery in Castle Shannon.

The BP Gas station and convenience store robbed in Wexford on Nov. 13 are located in the T-Bones shopping plaza on Route 910 near the Interstate 79 interchange.

Amann said the convenience store between the gas pumps was held up at 10:44 a.m. by a robber who showed a handgun to store workers.

After the robbery, police said the suspect ran across Route 910 and jumped into a car parked at the Soergel Orchards market. 

"Our robbery was the third robbery that day," Amann said. The four men started in Washington and traveled north on I-79 to Chartiers Township, then on to Wexford, he said.

Amann credited cooperative police work between the Pennsylvania State Police in Washington County, Chartiers Township Police Department and his department as well as physical evidence obtained at the BP for solving the case.


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