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Suspected bank robber in custody after bomb squad searches car

ALLEGHENY COUNTY, Pa. — The Allegheny bomb squad was called out Monday for a potential explosive hazard allegedly inside a car near the Interstate 79 northbound ramp from Interstate 376 westbound, state police said.

The car in question, a white Toyota sedan, was involved in a bank robbery Monday in Crafton, state police said.

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Channel 11’s Pamela Osborne reported that the bomb squad used a special robot to detonate a briefcase and another suspicious item that police said were stashed away inside the sedan.

The man driving the car used it to get away after robbing a PNC Bank in Crafton, according to police.

“He stated he had a bomb, showed the teller wires hanging out from his shirt and demanded cash,” Crafton Police Chief Mark Sumpter said.

Osborne reported that Robinson Township police were the first to spot the white Toyota and pulled it over.

“(The officers) had noticed that there was money underneath in a garbage bag of money,” Robinson Police Chief Mike Gastgeb said.

Police said underneath the front passenger seat was the device he allegedly used in the bank robbery.

“(It was) a makeshift box he made out of a box, black tape, vibrator and cellphone,” Sumpter said.

Authorities, though, took no chances, closing the ramp to northbound Interstate 79 from Interstate 376 westbound and restricting traffic in the area of Baldwin and Campbell roads.

A bomb-sniffing dog was also brought in to check out the car. However, police said at that point they had already taken the suspect, who has not been identified, into custody.

“As we were getting him out of the vehicle, he started telling us what he did,” Gastgeb said. “He said he made a big mistake.”

Sumpter told Channel 11's news exchange partners at TribLIVE that the suspect was taken to night court to await arraignment on charges, including robbery and making terroristic threats.

WPXI

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