FAIRMONT — A man accused of bank robberies in Preston and Monongalia counties now faces two more charges, including a bank robbery in Marion County.
Daryl Waychoff, 55, of Houston, Pa., has been charged with the Aug. 12 robbery of BC Bank at 939 East Park Ave., Fairmont. Police Detective Z. Buck filed the charges.
Waychoff was charged earlier with the robbery last week of the Bruceton Mills Clear Mountain Bank in Preston County and with the Sept. 15, 2018, robbery of the First United Bank at 7 Chaplin Road, in Monongalia County.
According to the Marion County complaint, a man with a bandanna on his face entered the bank and told the teller he had a gun and to hand over all the money in her drawer. She did so, and he fled on foot to a McDonald’s parking lot and left on a 2009 black and orange Suzuki motorcycle, according to the complaint.
Preston County Sheriff’s deputies said Waychoff entered the Clear Mountain Bank at Bruceton Mills Wednesday, told employees he had a gun and demanded money. Witnesses saw the robber leave on a motorcycle and got a partial license number. He was spotted on Interstate 68 near Coopers Rock by Preston and Mon deputies. The pursuit continued into Monongalia County, onto I-79 and into Pennsylvania. There, police said, Waychoff tried to travel through the median and struck a Preston cruiser.
Monongalia County Deputy A.D. Coe charged Waychoff with felony fleeing from an officer.
“I observed the driver swerve the motorcycle towards a marked police cruiser on two occasions in what appeared to be an attempt to get the cruiser to wreck,” Coe wrote in the criminal complaint.
Coe also said Waychoff fled at speeds of up to 90 mph, passing vehicles on the right shoulder of the road, causing other motorists to slam on their brakes and swerve. Waychoff also drove around construction signs in an active construction site, according to the complaint.
The motorcycle Waychoff was riding when he was arrested matched the description of the one the First United Bank robber rode, according to the criminal complaint. Waychoff is in the North Central Regional Jail in lieu of a total of $1,170,000 cash bond.
