A Pennsylvania man is in custody after allegedly robbing the Clear Mountain Bank in Rowlesburg, and this is not the first time he’s faced similar charges.
Preston County Sheriff’s Department, West Virginia State Police and Kingwood Police Department responded to the armed robbery call on Monday, a press release from Sheriff Paul Pritt said.
According to a criminal complaint, when law enforcement arrived on scene, they were able to get a description of the suspect from employees at the bank. Staff members also told officers the suspect “presented a handgun during the robbery.”
Witnesses told police the man left on foot and was followed for a short distance until he was seen getting into a small white sedan, the complaint said.
Law enforcement later located the sedan and the alleged suspect, William Forrest Perry, 73, of Pittsburgh, Pa., in the Terra Alta area.
Perry allegedly fled from police after they attempted to stop the vehicle, the complaint said, and after a several-mile pursuit, Perry crashed the sedan.
After the crash, Perry was apprehended and the complaint said “a large sum of cash was recovered.” He allegedly admitted to officers that he was the person who robbed the bank.
Documents from the Federal District Court for Western Pennsylvania show this is not the first time Perry has been accused of armed robbery.
According to the court records, Perry pleaded guilty to robbing five different banks in western Pennsylvania and one in New Cumberland in a series of nine robberies from January 2004 to September 2006.
In each of the previous robberies, Perry was said to have used a “replica handgun.” Local law enforcement did not disclose whether a weapon of any kind was found in Perry’s possession during Monday’s arrest.
For the robberies, Perry was sentenced to 188 months of incarceration and five years supervised release. He was also ordered to pay restitution of $633,941.69, the total amount stolen from the banks over the two-year span.
Perry is now being charged with bank robbery once again and is currently incarcerated at Tygart Valley Regional Jail. A cash only bond was set at $1 million.
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