Caught On Camera: Suspect Spends 7 Minutes In Blawnox Bar, Makes Off With $800
BLAWNOX (KDKA) -- Blawnox and Allegheny County Police are investigating a daring daylight robbery at a popular bar on Freeport Road.
The suspect parked his silver Cadillac near the bar around noon Saturday.
Police say he walked inside the nightspot through an unlocked front door. He spent about seven minutes in the basement of the bar, where he's accused of stealing $800 in cash that was in an office ready for deposit.
The door was unlocked because employees were getting ready to open the bar for business.
The theft occurred at Dietch's Bar & Grill which has been a fixture in Blawnox for more than three decades.
Bar owner Paul Diethrich told KDKA-TV's Ralph Iannotti, "He came in the bar while my wife and brother were upstairs cleaning up. He became jittery; he then went downstairs and found the money in an envelope on a desk."
After pocketing the money, the thief tried to leave through a back door, but apparently got scared when he saw a car parked right outside.
He walked back inside, and according to Diethrich, the suspect "kept walking back and forth, and even went into a closet briefly after he heard the stools being moved about upstairs."
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The suspect, who wore a bright red sweatshirt during the burglary, but made no attempt to shield his face finally left the bar and walked back to his parked Cadillac and drove off.
Diethirch's wife didn't realize there was a theft until she went downstairs and saw the money was missing and employees saw the surveillance video.
UPDATE (April 13, 2016):
Allegheny County Police have now identified the suspect in the break-in.
They have issued an arrest warrant for 54-year-old Leon Grisham of Monroeville. He is described as being 5-foot-10-inches tall and weighs 200 pounds.
When he is arrested, Grisham will face charges of criminal trespass, theft and receiving stolen property.
Anyone with information on Grisham's whereabouts is asked to call Allegheny County Police at 412-473-3000.
