Charges filed in robbery case from last year in Jefferson
State police arrested a Mather man Tuesday, accusing him of robbing a BFS Foods convenience store in Jefferson last year.
Dustin Franklin Virgili, 30, of 51 Short St., allegedly used a hammer while robbing the store May 28, 2018. Police said the salesclerk, Alma Gray, was outside smoking when Virgili allegedly approached her with a hammer and told her to get inside. He then allegedly told her to give him the money in the register, “before he splits her skull,” the criminal complaint said.
Police said he took about $120 and fled on foot. In November, police were able to present Gray with a photo lineup of potential suspects in the case. Gray allegedly identified Virgili as the robber.
Virgili was arrested Tuesday and charged with robbery, theft and simple assault. He was arraigned that afternoon by District Judge Glenn Bates and jailed on $25,000 bond.
The charges came hours after the BFS store on Route 21 in Franklin Township was robbed by a hammer-wielding man about 3:40 a.m. Tuesday. The man grabbed the cash register and fled on foot. He was described as white, “in his 20s,” about 6 feet tall, wearing a dark green cloth over his face, a black hoodie and gray sweatpants.
Two other similar incidents happened Sunday and Monday at local convenience stores, but police declined to comment on whether Virgili is a suspect in those incidents.
While police have no new information on the recent incidents, Trooper Lucas Borkowski, who’s investigating the recent robberies, said “we decided to file that yesterday for a reason,” referring to charges in the 2018 robbery in Jefferson.
During Tuesday morning’s robbery at the store on Route 21 in Franklin Township, the man dropped the hammer in the parking lot. Police were able to confiscate it and send it to a lab to collect DNA from it. Borkowski said it could take months to get the results back.
Early Sunday, a man matching the description from Tuesday’s incident robbed the Circle K in Carmichaels. Police said the suspect showed the clerk a screwdriver, demanded money, then fled on foot after taking the money. About 2 a.m. the following morning, a man with the same description used a hammer to break a window and enter the BFS Foods store on High Street, Franklin Township, to steal a large amount of cigarettes.