Charges dismissed against armed robbery suspect
All charges were dismissed Tuesday afternoon against a South Union Township man accused of armed robbery. Charges also were dismissed against his girlfriend who was accused of intimidating the alleged victim in the incident.
Magisterial District Judge Michael M. Metros dismissed all charges against Alfonso Pugh, 23, and Susan Eileen Heilman, 41, both of 510 Thomas St., after Darren Lee, 44, of Uniontown testified Pugh was not the man who robbed him Aug. 17.
Uniontown police Officer Ray Miller charged Pugh last week with two counts of robbery, aggravated assault and recklessly endangering another person based on information received from Lee and witness Denise Fitzgerald, also of Uniontown. Fitzgerald did not appear in court Tuesday, despite being subpoenaed to do so.
Lee testified Tuesday that he could not recall who robbed him and said his memory was “foggy” regarding the incident but stated repeatedly that Pugh was not the man responsible.
Miller initially sought the warrant following the armed robbery allegedly committed by Pugh at a location on Austin Street on Aug. 17.
Miller said the incident began when police were summoned to the location at 10:51 p.m. for a report of shots fired. Miller said that when officers arrived, they found a single spent shell casing from a .380-caliber handgun.
Miller said police also encountered Lee, who told investigators that he was walking toward the entrance of a bar on Austin Street when Pugh exited the bar.
Lee said that Pugh grabbed a gold chain Lee was wearing around his neck and yanked it off and also stole his ball cap and sunglasses, Miller said.
Lee told police that Pugh then fired a single round into the air before fleeing on foot toward Pershing Court.
As Lee testified that he couldn’t remember anything that occurred Aug. 17 and repeated that Pugh was “not the guy who did it,” an unidentified man who accompanied Lee into court interrupted the proceeding by yelling into the courtroom.
The man called for Metros to stop the police and Fayette County Assistant District Attorney J.W. Eddy from further questioning Lee, stating that Lee is “scared” and also saying he has limited mental capabilities.
After Lee’s testimony and Fitzgerald’s failure to appear, Eddy rested his case and defense attorney David Kaiser moved for all charges against both Pugh and Heilman to be dismissed.
Detective Donald M. Gmitter had filed two felony counts of intimidation of a witness or victim and a single felony count of conspiracy to commit intimidation against Heilman.
Gmitter said the charges were filed against Heilman after she tried to influence Lee not to testify against Pugh.
In the criminal complaint filed by Gmitter, he stated that Lee told police Thursday that the day after Pugh robbed him Pugh called his cell phone and apologized, claiming he didn’t remember doing it.
Gmitter said Lee also told investigators that Pugh was going to return Lee’s property to him and asked Lee to drop the charges against him.
Gmitter said that Pugh later drove up to Lee while he was walking on Coolspring Street and asked him again to drop the charges.
Lee told police that he received more phone calls from Pugh throughout the evening Wednesday and then early Thursday, with continued requests for Lee to drop the charges, Gmitter said.
Gmitter said that early Thursday Pugh was a passenger in a vehicle driven by Heilman. He said the vehicle approached Lee near Penn Street and Pugh ordered Lee to get into the car.
Lee told police that Heilman then instructed Lee to “testify at the hearing that he was drunk on the night of the robbery and that he doesn’t remember what happened,” Gmitter said.
Lee told police that Heilman and Pugh also told him to tell police that the description he gave officers of the suspect does not match Pugh, Gmitter said.
Heilman then dropped Lee off outside Metros’ office where she parked her vehicle and entered the building.
Uniontown police Capt. David J. Rutter said he and officers Chuck David and Jennifer Field immediately questioned Heilman about Lee and she denied bringing him to the office or having contact with him.
Prosecutors did not question Lee about his account to police regarding Heilman after he couldn’t recall information he provided to police regarding the robbery.