NORTH STRABANE TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Police say a man accused of trying to rob a gas station early Friday morning was arrested a short time later while driving a car that had just been reported stolen.
According to police, officers were called to the Marathon gas station on Race Track Road after a clerk reported being threatened during an attempted robbery.
Investigators say the suspect, identified as Randy Lee Bell, was armed with pepper spray and implied he had a gun in his pocket. The clerk refused to hand over any money.
Police say Bell left the store with only a stolen vape.
Around the same time, Jessica McLaughlin’s brother had reported his 2011 Ford Fusion stolen from their driveway in Washington. McLaughlin said her brother had started the car to warm it up before leaving for his early morning job as a bakery driver.
“My brother gets up for work around 2:30, came out and started his car, woke me up about ten minutes to 3 and told me the car was stolen,” McLaughlin said.
Not long after reporting the theft, McLaughlin said she and her brother were listening to a police scanner app when they heard the car had just been involved in a gas station robbery.
Police say officers later spotted the stolen vehicle at a BP gas station in North Franklin Township, where Bell was taken into custody without incident.
McLaughlin said they were relieved to learn the car was not damaged.
“He didn’t wreck it, so that’s a bonus,” she said.
She also said the situation served as a lesson for her brother.
“I tell him all the time, don’t leave your keys in the car or nothing,” McLaughlin said. “He always says they’re not going to steal mine. Well… they took it.”
Bell is in the Washington County jail.
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