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CLARKSBURG ROBBERY -According to a criminal complaint, on Nov. 12, Timothy Merritt, 25, of Clarksburg, went into Smoke Time Sam’s in Clarksburg holding a pistol and ordered an employee to give him all the money in the cash registers and safe.
The employee acquiesced to Merritt’s demands and gave him all the money in the store, then Merritt told the employee and store’s customers to enter the restroom before he fled out the back door onto Hart Street, officers said.
Later, officers found Merritt on Duncan Avenue wearing only a t-shirt, shorts and black slip-on shoes in 20-degree weather, according to the complaint. A search of the area located a gray Walmart bag with $3,256 in cash, as well as finding Merritt’s clothing in the area, officers said.
Merritt is charged with first-degree robbery and grand larceny. He is being held in North Central Regional Jail on $100,000 bond.
MORGANTOWN ROBBERY-EXTORTION - Two men have been charged in connection to a robbery and extortion attempt in Morgantown.
On Nov. 11, officers with the Morgantown Police Department were given a report regarding a robbery and extortion attempt of three victims in the Morgantown area, according to a criminal complaint.
The incident, which occurred Nov. 4, involved two males wearing black ski masks entering an apartment, where one of the victims lived, holding pistols and demanding “property and money,” officers said.
One of the victims told officers that the men pointed guns at them and stole about $400 in cash, but before the men left, one of them demanded $1,000 be put into a mailbox on Allen Avenue on the dates of Nov. 11 and Nov. 18, according to the complaint.
Using Snapchat, one of the men using the username “listen2me19,” messaged one of the victims and threatened him by saying that if he didn’t put the money in the mailbox by Nov. 11, he would kill him, officers said.
Then on Nov. 11, using the username “iamcoming” on Snapchat, one of the men messaged the victim asking if the money had been put in the mailbox, according to the complaint. Officers placed a false envelope into the mailbox, then used the victim’s Snapchat to tell the men that the money was there, officers said.
One of the suspects said via Snapchat that he was on his way to get the money, and officers observed Thomas Corcione, 19, of Morgantown, arrive to retrieve the envelope from the mailbox, according to the complaint.
Corcione was taken into custody, and officers were able to retrieve information off of his cellphone to identify another subject, Marcus Penrose, 27, of Morgantown, officers said.
The victim continued to receive Snapchat messages from Penrose asking where the money was, and the victim told him that the money was in the mailbox, according to the complaint. Penrose then went to the mailbox on Allen Avenue, and police took him into custody.
Penrose and Corcione are both charged with first-degree robbery and attempted extortion. They are both being held in North Central Regional Jail on $500,000 bond.
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