Getaway driver in robbery headed to jail
An East Greenville man who was the getaway driver during a robbery at a Pennsburg drug store gets jail.
NORRISTOWN » An East Greenville man who authorities said was the getaway driver during an armed holdup at a Pennsburg drug store has jail time and community service in his future.
John Moran, 20, of the 500 block of Main Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to five to 23 months in the county jail, to be followed by four years’ probation, after he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of conspiracy to commit robbery in connection with the 7:36 p.m. Sept. 30, 2017, holdup at the Rite Aid Pharmacy at 350 Main Street in Pennsburg.
The sentence, imposed by Judge Risa Vetri Ferman, means Moran will be under court supervision for about six years.
The judge said Moran must be evaluated for potential addiction supervision during the parole and probationary period.
Two other male juveniles who participated in the robbery saw their cases handled in juvenile court and the outcome of their cases was unavailable. One of those juveniles, the robber, brandished a BB gun at a cashier during the holdup.
Assistant District Attorney Roderick Fancher argued the victims, a pregnant cashier and a customer in the store, believed the gun was authentic and feared for their lives.
“The victim impact statement was strong. The gun looked real. They think that they have a gun in their face. It looked like a real gun,” Fancher said.
The judge also ordered Moran to complete 100 hours of community service and to write a letter of apology to the robbery victims who was traumatized by the incident.
An investigation by Upper Perk police revealed that a juvenile male from Upper Hanover entered the store about 7:30 p.m. and cased the store before purchasing candy and then exited the store. At 7:36 p.m. a second 17-year-old juvenile male, who had his face covered, entered the store armed with a gun.
“The suspect ordered the cashier at gunpoint to open the cash register and he subsequently removed the entire cash tray and fled the store,” Upper Perk Police Cpl. James Lavin alleged in the arrest affidavit, adding the cash tray contained about $172. “The surveillance footage inside the store shows that the robbery suspect has a distinct gait.”
The 17-year-old Marlborough Township male was developed as the robbery suspect and police matched his gait to being similar to the gait of the robber caught on videotape, according to the criminal complaint. When police searched the teen’s home on Nov. 9 they seized a shirt and sunglasses that he wore during the robbery, according to the criminal complaint.
That same day, police searched the Upper Hanover home of the second juvenile male, who cased the store before the robbery, and inside his home they found the black airsoft handgun that the Marlborough Township friend had used during the holdup, according to the arrest affidavit.
The teen robber told detectives the three friends decided to commit the robbery “because they needed money.” It was decided the Upper Hanover teen would go inside the store to “scope” out the customers and “to make sure it was clear,” police alleged. While the teen was in the store he communicated with the eventual robber via the social media app Snapchat, police alleged.
Moran, who was 19 at the time, “was designated to be the getaway driver” and he used the teen robber’s vehicle during the getaway. The three suspects then went to another unidentified individual’s residence to purchase a half-ounce of marijuana with the money they acquired during the holdup, police alleged.