Peters bank robber arrested, confesses to committing others
The Hickory man arrested in the May 19 robbery at the cfsbank branch in Peters Township also confessed to two other recent bank robberies.
John Davis Manning, 24, of 125 Avella Road, was taken into custody after his vehicle was stopped on Route 51 in Jefferson Hills, Allegheny County, following a pursuit that started in Union Township. He was arraigned May 19 before District Judge Joshua Kanalis on the robbery charge and placed in Washington County jail on $250,000 bond.
Manning reportedly entered the bank at 622 E. McMurray Road at 1:28 p.m. As he stood inside looking around, one of the tellers offered to help him. Manning reportedly handed the teller a note that read “Give me all your bills. You have 20 seconds.” When the teller could not open the cash drawer, the teller told Manning to go to the other teller. He refused and the teller was able to open the drawer. Manning was handed money and then left the bank.
A description of his car was broadcast. An ambulance crew spotted a car matching the description a short time later in the 800 block of Venetia Road. The car continued east before turning onto Rankintown Road in Union Township. Southwest Regional police attempted a traffic stop, but Manning fled with police in pursuit. He was eventually stopped on Route 51 and taken into custody.
Inside the car, police could see a large amount of loose money on the front seat, as well as a blue-and-white plaid, button-down shirt matching the one worn by the robber in the surveillance footage. The tellers who were working identified Manning as the robber.
Manning gave a written confession to an Allegheny County sheriff’s sergeant to bank robberies May 18 at First Commonwealth Bank in Castle Shannon and May 7 at the Tylerdale branch of Washington Financial Bank during an interview at the Peters police station. Manning told authorities he was trying to support a 30-to-75-bag-per-day heroin habit.
Manning reportedly told investigators that he never threatened violence or intended to hurt anyone. He apologized, saying that he knew what he did was wrong but the drug addiction made him do things he normally would not do.
Manning pleaded guilty in 2010 to receiving stolen property and conspiracy charges filed by Mt. Pleasant Township police and was given two years of probation. He also was given two years of probation in 2011 after pleading guilty to receiving stolen property and theft charges filed by police in Bristol Township, Bucks County.
The FBI is expected to take over prosecution of all three bank robbery cases so it is unlikely that his scheduled June 2 preliminary hearing before District Judge James Ellis will take place.