Getaway driver pleads guilty
A Youngwood woman who had her child in the car while she drove the getaway car during the alleged robbery of a South Union Township bank pleaded guilty to the charges against her in Fayette County Court. Ashley Lynn Johnston, 23, will serve time on intermediate punishment under the plea and must testify against John Paul Currin, who allegedly robbed the bank. Currin in the father of Johnston’s child. The plea, entered last week, was to robbery, criminal conspiracy to commit robbery, theft and receiving stolen property.
State police Trooper John F. Marshall alleged that Johnston and Currin conspired to rob the Parkvale Bank on Dec. 16.
Currin, 39, of Youngwood allegedly went into the bank and pretended to have a weapon before demanding money from a teller. Police said he got about $800.
When he left, police said that he got into a car that Johnston was driving. She took him to a truck that was parked nearby, and he fled, police said.
Authorities took Johnston into custody in the Uniontown Mall parking lot, and troopers responding to the robbery scene reportedly saw Currin traveling north on Route 119.
Police pursued him, and Currin allegedly accelerated his truck toward troopers, one of whom fired a shot. Currin was shot in the hand, police said.
He is charged with aggravated assault, robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, fleeing and eluding police, theft and receiving stolen property.
Judge Steve P. Leskinen will sentence Johnston at a later date.