DUBOIS – A Brockway couple accused of robbing a DuBois bank twice and other crimes waived their rights to preliminary hearings Friday during Centralized Court.
Kevin Bundy, 22, and Michele A. Garvey, 24, both of 1150 Woodbury Rd., Brockway, are charged in relation to two armed robberies of the S&T Bank on West Scribner Avenue in DuBois, an armed robbery at Cash For Gold in Sandy Township and two thefts at Your Jewelry Box at the DuBois Mall.
The first armed bank robbery occurred on Dec. 31. According to the affidavit of probable cause, three witnesses who were visibly shaken and crying as they spoke to police gave the same description of the robber as a Caucasian male between 5 feet, 5 inches and 5 feet, 7 inches tall, with a thin build and dressed in black. He was wearing a black ski mask and carrying a black hand gun. The employee who waited on the robber said he pointed the gun at her and asked for $50 and $100 bills. She said she was scared and gave him an unknown amount of money from her drawer. He then walked out of the bank. All of the employees said they were scared for their lives.
Another witness who was at the drive thru window saw the robber leaving the bank with his hands in his pockets. After she learned from an employee that the bank had just been robbed, she drove around the area in an attempt to find the man but was unable to locate him. It was later determined the robber had gotten away with $900.
On Jan. 4 police received a call that the bank had been robbed again. When officers arrived at the bank, employees told them it was the same man. The employee who waited on him said he pointed the gun at her and said “give me.” She told him her drawer wasn’t being used and then reached for another drawer to pull out the bait money. He yelled “no” at her and then took off running.
A concerned female stopped at the DuBois police station on Jan. 15 reporting that Bundy had possibly committed the robberies. She said he and his girlfriend, Garvey, were getting into trouble and Garvey was recently placed in the Jefferson County Jail.
Police then spoke with Garvey at the jail on Jan. 16. She admitted to being involved with both robberies. Bundy had a plan to get them some money and dressed all in black, she said. She thought the gun was actually an air gun that he painted black. He drove with her to the bank, where he parked and she moved into the driver’s side. He came back a few minutes later with the money and Garvey drove away from the scene. The day of the second robbery, he told her they were going to “hit” the bank again. This time he came running back to the vehicle, yelling “go!” They then drove away.
Bundy, who was also incarcerated in the Jefferson County Jail, admitted to the robberies. He said he used a toy pistol. The money he got the first time he used to buy heroin. He said on the day of the second robbery, they were out of money, so he decided to go back to the bank. He panicked after he thought an employee had pushed an alarm button and left with nothing.
Because he was not able to get any money, Bundy said they went to the K-Mart Plaza, where he went into the Cash For Gold store. After this robbery, he smashed what he said was a toy gun and threw the pieces into a creek in Brockway.
According to the criminal complaint in that case, police received a call from the owner of the store who saw a man with a firearm walk into the store via a web-based camera that monitors the business. Officers talked with the employee who was upset at the store where she said she was the only employee present when the man came in. He took a gun from his pocket and pointed it at her. He said “give it to me” while pointing at the area where the money is kept. She gave him an envelope with approximately $1,000 in it. Then he ordered her to the floor where she stayed until she was sure he had left the store.
In the first retail theft case, on Jan. 11 while Garvey distracted employees, Bundy removed several yellow gold baby rings valued at $600 and a watch valued at $150. After realizing they had additional merchandise missing, the employees reviewed video surveillance footage, which showed Bundy and Garvey in the store twice on Dec. 18 and on Dec. 22. Bundy reached into display cases and removed jewelry, which he put in his pants pocket, again as the employees were distracted by Garvey. The total amount stolen then was $4,554.75.
Bundy is charged with two counts of robbery, two counts of criminal attempt, five counts of terroristic threats, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, five counts of simple assault, five counts of recklessly endangering another person, and four counts of criminal conspiracy/robbery for the robberies at the bank. He is charged with robbery, criminal conspiracy, terroristic threats, simple assault and theft by unlawful taking for the robbery at Cash For Gold; three counts of retail theft, and three counts of criminal conspiracy/retail theft for his actions at Your Jewelry Box in December and retail theft and criminal conspiracy, for his visit there on Jan. 11.
Garvey is charged with four counts of criminal conspiracy/robbery, two counts of criminal conspiracy/theft, and two counts of criminal conspiracy/receiving stolen property for the bank robberies; criminal conspiracy/robbery, criminal conspiracy/terroristic threats, criminal conspiracy/simple assault and criminal conspiracy/theft for the Cash For Gold robbery; three counts each of retail theft and criminal conspiracy retail theft, and use/possession of drug paraphernalia in the jewelry cases from December and criminal conspiracy for the January jewelry theft.
Both Bundy and Garvey remain in the Clearfield County Jail in lieu of $25,000 bail for each of the robbery cases and $1,000 each for the retail theft cases.
In Jefferson County, Bundy is facing additional retail theft charges from a Brookville jewelry store in January.
Both Bundy and Garvey were on probation in Jefferson County for a theft by deception case at the time they committed these crimes.
