Accused bandit nabbed in Montco

A blond, ponytailed man accused of robbing a Wawa and a bank in Cheltenham Township within the last three days has been nabbed by police based on surveillance-tape evidence, officials said Tuesday.

Police arrested Joe Piston, 31, of Limekiln Pike in Glenside, and charged him with bank robbery and related crimes, said Lt. John Frye, head of the Cheltenham Township Police Detective Division.

Investigators said that at 11:39 a.m. Monday, a ponytailed bandit walked into the Citizens Bank at 139 S. Easton Rd. and used a note to demand money. The note implied he had a weapon, police said.

Police officers flooded the area and learned from a local shop owner that a blond, blue-eyed, and ponytailed man in his 40s had just come in, asking to use the phone to call for a cab.

Police tracked the cab and were there when the man walked out of the PNC Bank at 101 S. Easton Rd. "He was trying to stay out of sight of the police who were canvassing the area," Frye said.

Police made the arrest based on video-surveillance tape taken from the Citizens Bank and testimony from bank workers, Frye said.

Officers recovered $3,200 in cash from Piston, according to Frye.

Investigators then took a look at a video-surveillance tape recorded during a 1:30 p.m. robbery Saturday at the Wawa convenience store at 82 Limekiln Pike in Glenside. About $240 was taken, police said.

Under questioning, Piston confessed to the Wawa robbery, Frye said.

Piston is charged with robbery, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, and drug offenses for possession of drug paraphernalia, Frye said. Piston was being held at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility on $100,000 cash bail.