CLEARFIELD – A Frenchville man accused of robbing a pharmacy in Clearfield had his hearing continued again.
Joseph Wayne Martell, 30, was scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Wednesday.
According to court records, on Nov. 10 the Medicine Shoppe in Clearfield was the site of an armed robbery. The report states that man came into the pharmacy searching for a callous remover. An associate handed him some corn callous remover. The man handled that item, plus a few others before putting them back. The associate told police that they noticed the man shaking at the time.
He is reported to have exited the store and then returned wearing a long skeleton face mask and gloves and carrying a silky black bag.The man told an associate to give him Oxydodone. He reportedly showed the associate a silver and black pistol. When he saw another woman in an office on with a phone, he jumped to get the phone from her. He then fled in a silver SUV with no license plate noticeable, though a plate with “St. Marys” was on the front of the vehicle.
The man left with over $683 worth of prescription pain pills.
Officers processed the crime scene, looking for latent fingerprints.
Another witness, doing her laundry at the nearby laundromat, said she saw a man exit the Medicine Shoppe in a hurry. She stated he had a mask on, like the one worn in the movie “Scream,” and that he took it off as he got into his vehicle. She described him as having short dark hair, well built, over 6 feet tall, dressed in blue jeans and a black shirt, and that he entered a silver/gray SUV with no plates.
On Nov. 10, police received a phone call from PSP Ridgeway stating that they had stopped Joe Martell at his residence. A license plate was seen on the front of the vehicle, as well as a registration number. Officers spoke to Martell’s girlfriend who confirmed that they had a white skeleton mask with crooked teeth missing. She described the mask as a “bubble mask.”
On March 9 lab reports came back matching fingerprints from items the man in the pharmacy touched came back matching Martell’s.
He was arraigned at 2:45 p.m. on March 9 by Magisterial District Judge Richard Ireland who set bail at $500,000, which has not changed.
Martell also faces robbery-related charges in Elk County.
Martell’s hearing was continued for three weeks to ensure that he has legal counsel for his hearing.
