SUSPECT — Brandon Scerri is suspected of being the man captured on surveillance footage during a robbery at Washington Financial Bank. — Contributed/Washington (Pa.) Police Department
WASHINGTON, Pa. — A man charged earlier this month in connection to a June 5 bank robbery in North Strabane Township is facing charges for a similar heist in Washington occurring two days earlier.
District Attorney Jason Walsh on Thursday provided a copy of the criminal complaint filed by Washington police against Brandon D. Scerri. Scerri, 29, of Wellsburg faces a felony robbery charge.
Washington police were called to Washington Financial Bank on East Wylie Avenue at about 9:40 a.m. June 3. According to the criminal complaint, Scerri walked into the bank and ran to a counter. Court documents state that he handed the teller a note claiming he had a gun, and that “no one inside the bank is going home” if he did not get money.
The note also claimed that Scerri had a gun, though he never displayed one.
The teller handed Scerri $155 from her drawer, at which point he became angry at the amount. Charging documents state that Scerri demanded to see that the drawer was empty for himself before leaving the bank.
According to the complaint, Scerri struggled to open the door and yelled, “Are you going to let me out?” to the teller.
“She then told him that he had ‘to pull,’ not ‘push,’” police wrote in the complaint.
The robber was described as wearing a surgical mask, black hooded jacket and brown sweatpants. Two days later, a man with a similar description robbed First National Bank on Route state Route19 in North Strabane Township.
As in the Washington robbery, Scerri is accused of passing a note that claimed he was armed, though the teller never saw a weapon. According to court documents, he stole $7,450.
He was later charged for that robbery along with 28-year-old Kayla Pruett, also of Wellsburg.
Investigators determined Scerri lives at 190 Washington Pike in Wellsburg. His landlord provided a picture that featured a blue sedan similar to the one that was witnessed at the scene of the North Strabane robbery.
Scerri and Pruett were seen on video prior to the second robbery entering Wendy’s in Canonsburg.
Police said the couple left the First National Bank branch and used the stolen money to make purchases at the Canonsburg Walgreens, and then ate a meal at Kentucky Fried Chicken.
As of Thursday, Pruett had not been charged in connection to the Washington robbery. Walsh said the investigation is ongoing.
According to the criminal complaint, Scerri was captured by security cameras in the neighboring GetGo convenience store shortly after 9 a.m. the morning of the robbery.
Once Washington police became aware of the blue sedan Scerri was suspected of using in the crimes, they were able to locate it in surveillance footage. Police said the car was captured on Allison Avenue shortly before the robbery, and afterward as it headed north on Jefferson Avenue.
Scerri also faces a misdemeanor theft charge in connection to the Washington robbery. In North Strabane, he and Pruett are charged with several felonies of robbery and theft.
Neither Scerri nor Pruett has been arrested.
