Pair charged in robbery
A Point Marion man is in the Fayette County Prison on robbery charges after his alleged co-conspirator and the man’s sister told the alleged victim who he was. Amanda White told state police that she didn’t know Christopher Jason Colebank, 24, when he allegedly came to her North Union Township home with half of his face covered by a red bandana on March 28. While White did not know Colebank, she was able to identify his companion as Johnathan Strosnider because she had known Strosnider for at least seven years, police said.
State police Trooper Alec Hamilton alleged that while Colebank pointed a gun at White, Strosnider, 21, of Lake Lynn went for White’s purse and took $500 out of her wallet.
White told police that while Strosnider was looking through her purse, Colebank pulled down the bandana, and she was able to see his face. She also said that she heard Strosnider refer to him by his last name.
“White stated that she doesn’t know (Colebank), but approximately an hour after they had left the scene, she received a telephone call from Strosnider’s sister, Melissa, asking what her brother had done,” Hamilton wrote.
During the course of that call, White told police that Strosnider’s sister told her the other man there was Colebank. White was able to identify Colebank out of a photo lineup, police said.
Strosnider was arrested a few days after the alleged robbery, but police did not pick up Colebank until Thursday evening, when he was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Joseph M. George Jr.
Both men are charged with burglary, robbery, theft, simple assault and conspiracy to commit each.
White told police she was in her kitchen of her home around 10:30 p.m. on West Askren Street when the alleged robbery occurred.
George set Colebank’s bail at $50,000 straight cash and committed him to the Fayette County Prison. Strosnider was arraigned on March 31 by Magisterial District Judge Wendy Dennis and committed to the prison on $25,000 bond.