Man pleads guilty to robbery at local bakery
WAYNESBURG – The last of three men involved in the robbery of the Rising Creek Bakery in Mt. Morris in September pleaded guilty Tuesday to receiving stolen property and was sentenced to two years of probation.
Daniel Patrick Johnson, 21, of 248 Big Shannon Run Road, Mt. Morris, was scheduled to appear in court for jury selection, but instead pleaded guilty to the charge before Greene County Judge William Nalitz. Charges of conspiracy to commit assault and conspiracy to commit theft were withdrawn by the prosecution.
In addition to probation, Johnson was ordered to pay a $500 fine, have no contact with employees of the bakery and to undergo random tests for drug and alcohol use.
His two co-defendants, Alan Michael Lipscomb, 22, of 150 Haines Ridge Road, Mt. Morris, and Mark Alan Paugh, 21, of 144 Hobbs Run Road, Mt. Morris, pleaded guilty earlier and were each sentenced to 2 to 4 years in prison.
According to state police, two of the men entered the bakery about 3:54 p.m. Sept. 19. One brandished a large knife and demanded money from store employees.
Employees told police one of the men was wearing a yellow hooded sweatshirt and the other a blue hooded sweatshirt.
Both covered their faces with bandanas. Store employees provided police with video from a surveillance camera.
As police were leaving the bakery, the bakery received a call from Sorella’s Pizza on Mt. Morris Road alerting them to three men at the pizza shop who were acting nervously.
Police went to the pizza shop and encountered Paugh, Johnson and another man outside. A trooper looked in the window of Johnson’s vehicle and saw a yellow sweatshirt.
Police said Johnson gave them permission to search the vehicle. The sweatshirt matched one viewed in the surveillance video, police said. Police also found several hypodermic needles and under the front seat, a large kitchen knife matching the description of the one used in the robbery.
In statements to police, the two men indicated they were with Lipscomb at the time of the robbery, police said.