Police catch alleged robber; local man says suspect held him hostage
A McClellandtown coal miner attributes his additional training as a social worker with helping him survive an eight-hour ordeal with an armed man wanted for a number of bank and convenience store robberies. Robbery suspect Timothy Green, 37, no address listed, was caught early Thursday morning in Preston County, W.Va., after allegedly holding John Joseph Sismondo of 303 College Ave., McClellandtown, hostage overnight.
“I came home from work around 8:15 and I came in the door. I was greeted by a gentleman lying on my couch with my .308 hunting rifle, telling me to sit down. He knew I had a Jeep and I had to take him down to my ex-wife’s house to get the Jeep,” Sismondo said.
Sismondo said the man appeared to be on drugs and was very agitated, gripping the gun tightly throughout the evening.
“It was a very enlightening experience, to say the least,” Sismondo said. “I attribute my survival to my education as a social worker. I kept him calm, associated things with him and kept him talking.”
Sismondo said he introduced himself to Green and Green simply said his name was Tim.
“I said ‘You’re not the Tim that’s been going around robbing all these places are you?’ He didn’t say anything,” Sismondo said.
When Sismondo told Green that a man at work had been talking about the bank robber, Green asked, “What did he say about me?” Sismondo said.
Sismondo said Green made him call off work Wednesday night, holding the hunting rifle close to his face while he placed the call. Sismondo said he believes Green originally intended to have him drive Green somewhere about three hours away, though the location wasn’t specified.
“His intent was to give himself up to a cop he could trust,” Sismondo said.
Sismondo said Green talked about having a 15-month-old son that he probably wouldn’t see because he’d be in jail.
Sismondo said Green had apparently been watching his house and knew he lived alone, or knew someone in the area who provided him with the information. Sismondo said he didn’t know Green and hadn’t had any prior contact with him before the incident Wednesday evening.
“Evidently he had some contacts. He said he was dropped off,” Sismondo said.
Sismondo said Green made him tie his own legs so he couldn’t go anywhere and forced him into his bedroom while Green spent the night on his couch. In addition to taking Sismondo’s Jeep, Green took the man’s bank card and removed money from his account, according to state police.
“He told me he wasn’t going to hurt me, and he didn’t,” Sismondo said.
Sismondo said his girlfriend calls every morning to make sure he doesn’t oversleep, and Green left shortly after that phone call, around 4:30 a.m.
“He tied me in a chair with duct tape and said he’d be back, but I knew he wouldn’t be. I waited a few minutes and got myself free and went to a neighbor’s to call the police. He hid my phone. I didn’t know where it was at, and frankly, I didn’t feel much like looking for it,” Sismondo said.
State police spotted Sismondo’s stolen Jeep and pursued Green into West Virginia.
“At approximately 5:25 (Thursday) morning, we received a call from the Pennsylvania State Police that they were following a vehicle that had crossed into West Virginia. They believed Timothy Green was the driver,” said Preston County Sheriff Ronald Crites. “They ended up on Route 26 in Preston County. Green turned onto a secondary road and tried to get into a driveway, but he missed. He got hung up and abandoned the vehicle. He went behind the house and behind the barn.
“Shortly thereafter, our officers arrived and he came from behind the barn with his hands up to turn himself in,” Crites said.
Crites said several weapons were found in the vehicle, though Green had no weapons on him when he turned himself in.
Green was arrested around 6 a.m. and is being held at the Preston County Jail in lieu of $100,000 cash bond.
He is charged as a fugitive from justice in Pennsylvania.
The West Virginia courts were closed Thursday in observance of West Virginia Day, marking the anniversary of West Virginia’s statehood. Crites said Green is expected to be taken before the West Virginia Circuit Court for extradition to Pennsylvania when the courts reopen today.
“I am relieved he is in custody, because we were concerned about public safety and the safety of Mr. Green,” said Wells Morrison, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Charleroi office.
Green is wanted for four bank robberies in Washington County since May 29, including robberies at the Northwest Savings Bank in Washington’s Wal-Mart Superstore on June 4, 8 and 11. He also is suspected in the robbery at the Jackson Farm Dairy Store on Route 40, Redstone Township, Tuesday evening and a gas station convenience store in Bentleyville on Sunday.
In each case Green allegedly told the victims he had a gun, but no weapon was ever seen, according to police.
Police thought they had Green cornered in a house in Filbert, Redstone Township, Tuesday night, but after five hours, police, including more than 60 members of the state police Special Emergency Response Team, left after learning that Green no longer was in the residence.