WESTOVER — A former Morgantown resident is wanted in connection with the October robbery of the Commerce Drive WesBanco Bank location in Westover.
Westover Police Deputy Chief Scott Carl said the WPD received positive identification of the man a little over two weeks ago.
“As we were drafting warrants, we discovered he’d robbed another bank, in Ohio. So, we have warrants for the suspect and he’s also currently wanted in Ohio,” Carl said. “We’re working with that department and the FBI and the U.S. Marshals to get him picked up and arrested.”
Carl said law enforcement is currently not sharing the man’s identity.
“After the positive ID, we also found that he’s wanted in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and South Carolina on other fraudulent scheme charges, not bank robbery, but other property crimes,” he said. “So, he’s wanted in at least six states now and that’s why the U.S. Marshals are actively looking for him right now.”
According to Carl, the man is “from all over,” but is believed to have lived in Morgantown for about six years, primarily in the area of Richwood Avenue and Willey Street.
“We actually found out he’s a suspect in a case in Morgantown, and they really weren’t sure who he was until we figured this out,” he said.
According to the initial press release, a white man, approximately 40 to 50 years old, entered the bank at about 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 23 and handed the teller a threatening note demanding money.
Westover Police Chief Joe Adams previously said he believes the man made off with about $3,000 before driving away in what looked to be a blue Buick LeSabre.
In other law enforcement news out of Westover, a man wanted in connection with a 24-year-old sexual assault cold case is back in West Virginia.
Carl said two WPD officers traveled to Connecticut earlier this month to bring Tyron Jermaine Walker back to West Virginia on an extradition warrant.
On May 23, 2000, a victim reported a sexual assault to the Westover Police Department, but investigators were not able to locate or identify the assailant.
Carl said the victim had been out with a friend and the suspect that evening before returning to a Westover apartment.
Forensic evidence in the case was processed as part of the West Virginia Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) and the suspected offender’s DNA was entered into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).
Just over 20 years later, the West Virginia Crime Laboratory connected the sample to Walker, whose DNA profile had been entered into the California State DNA Database and, it turns out, was also linked to a sexual assault case in Montana.
On June 30, 2023, the Monongalia County Magistrate Court issued an arrest warrant for Walker.
This past July, members of the U.S. Marshals Violent Fugitive Task Force tracked Walker to a residence in Waterbury, Conn., where he was arrested.
Walker is currently being held in the North Central Regional Jail.
“We’ve had several big cases that have culminated in the last week or two and we’ve been really busy wrapping those up and trying to get those settled and those people in jail, where they belong,” Carl said.
