ARMSTRONG TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A Williamsport man is facing charges after state police said DNA evidence linked him to a gas station robbery in 2010.
According to state police in Indiana County, Alexander Theodule Pelletier, 32, was charged on April 30 with a felony count of robbery and misdemeanor counts of simple assault and criminal attempted theft by unlawful taking or disposition.
On Sept. 17, 2010, someone attempted to rob the Shelocta BP convenience store/gas station along state Route 422 in Armstrong Township.
The initial investigation revealed that an employee was cleaning the store when the suspect, wearing a bandana over his face, went inside. He held up his right hand, which was also covered by a bandana, demanded money, and asked the employee “do you want me to shoot you,” according to police.
The employee picked up a vacuum cleaner and swung it at the suspect. The two fought, during which the suspect hit the employee at least one time before running from the scene.
“That’s pretty crazy. You don’t hear about that happening around here all the time,” said Katelin Wolf, who was at the BP store on Thursday.
DNA found on the bandana covering the suspect’s face identified Pelletier as the suspect on March 7.
“Sometimes it does take years. It’s not always an instant result like you do sometimes see on TV. This is the result of good police work back at the time of the incident in 2010. That evidence was seized and maintained, and the technology, we’re able today, 13 years later, to make an arrest,” said Trooper Cliff Greenfield of the Pennsylvania State Police.
Pelletier’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 14.
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