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Philipsburg man gets lengthy prison term for robberies
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Clearfield County Judge Paul E. Cherry has ordered a Philipsburg man to serve a lengthy state prison sentence on two robbery charges.
Christopher E. Gerald, 28, 402 Laura St., Philipsburg, currently incarcerated in Clearfield County Jail, pleaded guilty to two separate cases of robbery and related charges for offenses committed in January at Kwik Fill in Chester Hill and Nittany Minit Mart in Bigler.
On each case of robbery, he was ordered to serve 4-10 years for an aggregated sentence of 8-20 years in the Western Diagnostic Classification Center, Pittsburgh.
He was fined $1 on each case, is to refrain from the use and possession of alcohol and controlled substances, not enter Kwik Fill in Philipsburg or Nittany Minit Mart in Bigler, have no contact with the victim or family and submit to DNA testing at a cost of $250.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, on the first case, Decatur Township Police were called to a "panic alarm" Jan. 25. Officers met with the employee of Kwik Fill who informed them that an unknown man came around the building wearing a red bandana on his face, black coat, jeans and a hood over his head. The employee also described a gun wrapped in a white cloth in the man's left hand. The man, identified as Gerald, pressed the gun into his right rib cage area and demanded money from the employee, stating, "I'll shoot you."
He then removed approximately $362 in cash from the register and fled on foot.
In the second case, state police were called to a robbery at Nittany Minit Mart on Jan. 31. The employee said she was robbed by a white male holding a tool-like object and demanding she open the registers. She opened both registers and he removed the money, a total of $250. He then fled on foot.
Prior to sentencing, Gerald apologized to the victims and community. He is a repeat offender, having pleaded guilty in January 2003 to robbery, and served a 30-month to five-year state prison sentence.
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