Former WVU player charged in robberies
McLee accused in 5 bank heists over seven weeks
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A former West Virginia University football player was charged with robbing four banks in Pittsburgh and Crafton over the past seven weeks after he was arrested in Squirrel Hill on Thursday afternoon during what police believe was an attempt to rob a fifth bank.
Allegheny County Police said Friday that Cleo K. “Boo” McLee Jr., 32, of Stowe was charged with robbery, terroristic threats and receiving stolen property in connection with the Aug. 22 robbery of a Dollar Bank branch at the CraftonIngram Shopping Center.
That case mirrored the others, police said, in that the robber showed a note demanding money. Chief Deputy Kevin Kraus of the county sheriff’s office said he believed the note was the same or similar in all of the robberies, alerting tellers that, “This is a robbery. Give me hundreds and fifties. No dye packs.”
McLee was arraigned early Friday on the Crafton robbery and was in the Allegheny County Jail. Bail was set at $100,000.
After county police announced they had charged McLee on Friday, Pittsburgh police said McLee was also being charged with three bank robberies stretching back to July 8, when investigators said he struck a First Niagara branch on Wabash Street in the West End. He is also being charged with the Aug. 15 robbery of First Niagara on Sixth Avenue, Downtown, as well as the Dollar Bank in the 500 block of Smithfield Street the next day.
The county sheriff’s office said Friday that it had developed the information that led to McLee’s arrest.
The office said it learned that McLee planned to rob a bank Thursday afternoon, so investigators put him under surveillance at his house. They watched as McLee put makeup on his neck to hide a prominent tattoo and then got into a vehicle, the sheriff’s office said.
Investigators tailed McLee to Squirrel Hill, where he walked toward the First Niagara Bank branch on Murray Avenue near Beacon Street.
As McLee was entering the bank about 4:15 p.m., investigators with the sheriff’s office, county police and FBI stopped him and took him into custody after a brief struggle, authorities said.
“They got him right at the doors,” Chief Deputy Kraus said.
McLee had a note that police say he intended to use to demand $50 and $100 bills. He also had a box cutter, authorities said.
In addition to the makeup, McLee was wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap.
McLee told police that he was motivated to rob the banks because he has a drug problem, according to an affidavit of probable cause in the case..
Court records show McLee previously has been convicted of drug charges and other offenses in Allegheny and Fayette counties dating to 2008.
McLee played linebacker at WVU from 2002 through 2006. He was signed by the St. Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2007 but left the team before he ever played a game for them after his father died that July.