May 6, 2003 By Jennifer Harr 3 min read

A 38-year-old Washington County man said he was high on crack cocaine when he tried to rob a Foodland, then robbed a convenience store before holding a McClellandtown man hostage for eight hours. Timothy Michael Green, 38, told Fayette County Judge John F. Wagner Jr. Monday that his addiction to crack cocaine impaired his judgment and his memory of what happened last June 17-18. Green pleaded guilty to the offenses in all three crimes, including robbery, attempted robbery and kidnapping.

Green, who also faces federal bank robbery charges, pleaded generally, which means that Wagner will determine his sentence.

Green, clad in a suit and glasses, answered Wagner’s questions politely, offering what details he said he could remember about the crimes.

His crime spree in Fayette started the evening of June 17 when Green went into the Grindstone Foodland and first asked a cashier to open the safe. When that cashier could not, he ordered another to open her cash drawer.

“I recall having really strong cravings for crack cocaine at the time … and I needed money to purchase it,” said Green, explaining why he tried to rob the Foodland.

Green said he fled without any money, and then tried to get into the car of a woman while she was returning her cart. That attempt also failed, and Green said he fled in a truck.

The next day, Green said he went to Jackson Farms Dairy Mart along Route 40 in Redstone Township and demanded money from the clerk there. According to police, the clerk first laughed, thinking it was a joke, but Green claimed to have a weapon.

He told Wagner that he could not remember for sure if he had a weapon on him at the time.

Green ultimately took funds from the register and lottery drawer, along with a can of chewing tobacco before leaving.

Although police were tipped off that Green was staying nearby and surrounded a home where they believed he was, Green said that he got dropped off in McClellandtown. He broke into John Sismondo’s home the evening of June 18 after Sismondo left for work.

When Sismondo came home around 8:15 p.m., he found Green lying on his couch with a gun, according to court records. Green duct taped Sismondo to a chair before leaving his home the next morning around 4:30 a.m. He said he took Sismondo’s Jeep.

Green was ultimately caught in Sismondo’s vehicle in West Virginia.

Wagner will sentence Green May 20 at 9 a.m.