EAST STROUDSBURG, MONROE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — A man is in custody after police say he robbed a customer at knifepoint on Sunday at a PNC Bank.
According to the Stroud Area Regional Police Department, on January 22 around 10:00 a.m., officers responded to a reported armed robbery at PNC Bank, at 60 Washington Street, in East Stroudsburg.
Police say a male victim and his daughter were at the drive-thru ATM in the PNC Bank parking lot when a suspect approached the victim with a large ‘fixed blade knife,’ stating, “Give me your wallet.”
According to law enforcement, the suspect reached into the vehicle and grabbed the victim by the arm which caused the victim to crawl from the driver’s seat to the passenger seat to get away. The victim’s daughter was in the back seat of the vehicle for the entire incident and was unharmed.
Officers say the suspect fled on foot and the victim found his wallet, but $20 in cash was missing. The suspect was described as a tall black male, wearing a black jacket with a hood and a mask.
The press release stated, on January 23 and 24, detectives found security footage from several locations that captured the robbery, and the suspect fleeing in a black Ford Edge.
Police say the same black Ford Edge was seen on video leaving the area after hitting a telephone, causing passenger-side rear damage and a broken taillight.
They found a patrol officer handled an incident on January 22 around 11:10 a.m. for a disabled vehicle on Chipperfield Drive that matched the suspect’s vehicle in the surveillance video, detectives stated.
As the release reads, on January 25, while officers were checking a residence to see if the vehicle was there, a man, identified as 48-year-old, Brian Walker, of Stroud Township, exited the front door of the house. Police say they recognized Walker from the surveillance video at PNC Bank as the robbery suspect.
Detectives say they spoke to Walker and asked him about the Ford Edge to which he replied he had it towed away.
According to the release, Walker had a large amount of personal property in the driveway of the residence and stated that he was in the process of moving out. While the detective went back to his vehicle and waited for backup, a taxi cab showed up at the home and left with Walker in the back seat, police say.
Stroud Area Regional Police say they initiated a traffic stop on the cab and took Walker into custody without incident.
Walker was arranged before MDJ Muth and was taken to the Monroe County Correctional Facility on $25,000 bail.
Court papers say Walker faces two felony counts of robbery, theft by unlawful taking, possessing an instrument of crime, and two counts of simple assault.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for January 31 at 10:00 a.m.
Anyone with additional information about this incident is asked to call the Stroud Area Regional Police, Detective Christian Capone at 570-421-6800 ext. 1053 or by email.
