Mt. Morris man pleads guilty to two armed robberies
WAYNESBURG – A Mt. Morris man who went on an armed robbery spree over five days in March 2014, robbing stores in Greene and Fayette counties and Monongalia County, W.Va., pleaded guilty last month before Greene County Judge Lou Dayich.
Timothy Paul Mitchell, 29, pleaded guilty Feb. 23 to robbery and related charges for the March 27, 2014, armed robbery at Sporty’s Pizza in Point Marion and for the armed robbery two days later at the Dilliner Convenience Store.
As part of a plea agreement, Mitchell was sentenced to 7 to 18 years in state prison and given credit for time served from Oct. 20. Mitchell was ordered to pay $150 in restitution to Sporty’s Pizza and $176.19 in restitution to the Dilliner Convenience Store.
The sentence is to run concurrent to a 17-year sentence Mitchell received in Monongalia County last May for robberies at the Belko Foods Store in Blacksville, W.Va., March 30, 2014, and the Hot Spot Lounge in Westover, W.Va., Feb. 23, 2014. It was unknown how much of that sentence Mitchell would serve in West Virginia, but the sentence on the Greene County conviction means he’ll serve at least seven years in the Pennsylvania prison system.
Charges connected to the armed robbery of a woman in Point Marion March 26, 2014 were withdrawn. In that incident, the woman told police while she was walking on the street, a man jumped out of a vehicle, pointed a handgun at her and stole her purse and cellphone.
During the robbery at Sporty’s Pizza, Mitchell entered the store at about 4:30 p.m. and demanded money. The cashier first refused his request but when he pulled out a handgun, another employee opened the register and provided him with cash.
In the Dilliner store robbery, Mitchell entered the store about 7:40 p.m. wearing a black bandana, wire rimmed glasses and a black hooded shirt. He pointed a black handgun at the clerk and demanded money.
Mitchell was arrested in West Virginia a day after the March 30 robbery at the Blacksville Store, when a Monongalia County sheriff’s deputy spotted a vehicle that matched the description and surveillance images of the car used the Blacksville robbery at a Morgantown hotel.