Robbery

HAGERSTOWN -- An armed robber's disguise provided DNA that led to the identification of a suspect in a December 2009 holdup of the Sheetz store at 1396 S. Potomac St., according to allegations in court documents filed this week by Hagerstown City Police. Matthew John Comegys, 22, of 151 Doub Way, was charged Monday with armed robbery, robbery, theft of less than $1,000, carrying a dangerous weapon with intent to injure, reckless endangerment and second-degree assault in the Dec. 2, 2009, robbery, according to the application for statement of charges filed in Washington County District Court.

Shepherd University police are investigating a reported armed robbery Thursday night on the college's east campus, university spokesman Tim Haines said Friday. The campus community was alerted of the reported incident at 8:03 p.m. and advised to use caution. A possible suspect in the reported incident was described to as a tall male who was wearing a white bandana, black pants and a hoodie, Haines said.

A woman reported to Maryland State Police Sunday that she was robbed at gunpoint by a male at the park-and-ride area at Md. 66 and Interstate 70. The woman told police she was robbed of cash between 11 a.m. and noon, a Maryland State Police spokesman said. The woman reported the robbery at about 2:23 p.m. and the incident is under investigation, the spokesman said.

Hagerstown Police arrested two men Sunday in connection with an armed robbery earlier in the day at the CVS/pharmacy on East Wilson Boulevard. Daniel Russell Knopp, 27, of 1124 Kuhn Ave. in Hagerstown, and Patrick Dennis Weber, 23, of 134 Saunders Drive in Falling Waters, W.Va., were charged with armed robbery, assault, reckless endangerment and theft, according to Sgt. John Lehman. The robbery occurred when a man wearing a hoodie and a mask entered the store, pointed a gun at an employee and demanded money from her, Sgt. Benjamin Lyncha said.

A 55-year-old man was arrested following an armed robbery Wednesday night at Dollar General in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia State Police said. David Allen Lewis, no address given, was being held on $32,000 bond at Eastern Regional Jail in Martinsburg, W.Va., awaiting a preliminary hearing, according to state police and the West Virginia Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority. Lewis was charged with armed robbery and wanton endangerment with a firearm, state police said in a news release.

One of three people to be charged in connection with an Aug. 26 carjacking along Golf Course Road was arraigned Friday in Berkeley County Magistrate Court. Lisa Marie Horne, 26, of Ranson, W.Va., was arraigned by Magistrate Jim Humphrey on single counts of first-degree robbery, grand larceny and accessory to robbery, according to court documents. Preliminary hearings in magistrate court for co-defendants Brad Lee Waldron, 25, of Purcellville, Va., and Paula Christina Killian, 26, of Martinsburg, who face the same charges, are scheduled for next month, according to court records.

A 19-year-old woman charged in a strong-arm robbery last year pleaded guilty to robbery Tuesday in Washington County Circuit Court and was sentenced to three years in state prison. Darnisha Monique Green, formerly of Washington, D.C., was sentenced the day before her 20th birthday, according to court records. In exchange for her plea, related criminal conspiracy, assault and theft charges were dismissed. Green and another woman, Fantaisa Rivera, were charged in a Dec. 9, 2011, robbery of a woman at the intersection of Winter and George Streets, according to the charging document filed by Hagerstown police.

A former state prison inmate facing sentencing on an attempted robbery conviction pleaded guilty in two more robbery cases this week in Washington County Circuit Court and was sentenced to 45 years in prison. Troy Antoine Frazier, 51, of 512 W. Church St., Hagerstown, was in court Tuesday to be sentenced for an attempted armed robbery conviction and entered guilty pleas to two other robberies. The three incidents took place on consecutive days in January, about three weeks after he was released from a state prison for a 2006 conviction for conspiracy to distribute cocaine.

Charges against a man accused of taking part in a violent December 2009 home invasion-style robbery have been dismissed at the request of the Berkeley County Prosecuting Attorney's office. Charges of burglary, first-degree robbery and conspiracy pending in Berkeley County Circuit Court against Darren A. Newman, 22, were dropped Thursday because the state lacked identification evidence, Berkeley County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Timothy D. Helman said Monday. Helman said the charges contained in the October 2010 indictment of Newman were dismissed without prejudice, meaning the state reserves the right to try to re-indict him in the future should additional evidence surface.

A Martinsburg man was charged with aggravated robbery for a holdup Friday morning at Jim's Auto Service, according to the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office. Jimmy Lee Sims, 20, of 1693 Files Cross Road, was arrested Friday afternoon on the robbery charge, police said. He was arraigned at Berkeley County Magistrate Court and posted bail, police said. The robbery occurred at 6:14 a.m. when three males entered the business and demanded money from the owner, police said. The three males assaulted the owner and left with a small amount of cash, police said.