More charges against Speers robbery suspect
BENTLEYVILLE – Additional charges have been filed against a Speers man who is in custody in connection with back-to-back armed robberies in the Mon Valley.
Bentleyville police now accuse Christopher Carroll, 30, of escaping July 1 from his arraignment in Bentleyville in one of the robberies and then stealing a Cadillac Escalade from a nearby garage to assist in his getaway, court records show.
Carroll, whose last known address was on Crest Street, has been in Washington County jail on $225,000 bond since July 3, when Charleroi Regional police took him back into custody following a struggle in a wooded area near his home. Police allege Carroll was trying to pull a handgun out of his pocket as police were subduing him.
Carroll was arrested on charges he conspired June 27 with another suspect to rob Double M’s Pizza Shop in North Charleroi. The other suspect, Dean A. Franks, 43, of Donora, was arrested shortly after that robbery when police say they found him pretending to be asleep on a bed in a nearby personal care home.
Rostraver police also have placed a detainer on Carroll to appear on charges he and Franks used a BB gun to rob the owner of Cash For Gold at 417 Don St. of $2,714 and diamonds valued at $5,000 on June 24.
After his initial arrest in one of those cases, Carroll escaped from the Bentleyville office of District Judge Curtis Thompson as police were exchanging handcuffs with a state constable.
Bentleyville police said Carroll “bolted from the holding cell” and went to a garage in the 100 block of Warren Street, where he allegedly stole the Cadillac and drove it to a Walmart in Rostraver and then to a motel. Bentleyville police also said Carroll was homeless and living in various motels in the area.
Bentleyville police on Friday filed charges of escape, theft, burglary and trespassing against Carroll stemming from the July 1 incidents. Carroll also is being held on a string of charges related to the robberies, and Rostraver police have said they plan to charge him in at least three other cases.