Ohio man charged with robbing South Strabane motel employee at knifepoint
A South Strabane motel employee was robbed at knifepoint Wednesday afternoon with the assailant allegedly holding the blade to a worker’s throat while demanding cash.
Township police responded to the armed robbery at the Rodeway Inn at 282 North Ave. about 3:15 p.m., and quickly stopped the fleeing getaway vehicle on nearby Berry Road.
Police said Daryle W. Forman Jr., 40, of Hamilton, Ohio, went into the motel with the knife and demanded money from the employee while threatening to kill him. Police said a brief struggle ensued and Forman then held the knife to the worker’s throat before a woman in the lobby called 911 and the assailant fled, according to court documents.
Forman got into a blue SUV with an Ohio license plate driven by 26-year-old Denver Louis Findley of Canonsburg, according to court documents. The duo drove away, but their vehicle was quickly spotted in the parking lot at the Giant Eagle in Strabane Square before South Strabane police officers pursued them and stopped them on Berry Road, investigators said.
Forman and Findley were both arrested, and syringes and stamp bags were found in the vehicle, along with the knife allegedly used in the robbery attempt, according to court documents. It’s not clear if any money was taken during the armed heist.
Forman is facing felony charges of attempted robbery and aggravated assault, along with misdemeanor counts of unlawful restraint, terroristic threats, making repairs to an offensive weapon, reckless endangerment and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Forman was arraigned Wednesday night by District Judge Phillippe Melograne and sent to the Washington County jail on $500,000 cash bond while awaiting his preliminary hearing tentatively scheduled for Oct. 20 at 10 a.m.
Findley was also taken to the Washington County jail on an earlier arrest warrant on drug charges filed by state police. He is now facing an additional charge of possession of drug paraphernalia, although it was not immediately known if he would be facing charges connected to the robbery.