A 24-year-old West Virginia man is in custody outside Pittsburgh after authorities say he broke into a Tuscarawas County home, stole a gun, hijacked a van from an Ohio funeral home, and then held up a Scio gas station employee at gunpoint before fleeing across state lines. The armed robbery at the Circle K happened shortly before 5:30 a.m. on Sunday, according to Tuscarawas County Sheriff's Detective Capt. Adam Fisher, and within hours investigators had run the suspect to ground roughly 50 to 60 miles away in Pennsylvania.
According to Jordan Miller News, the man allegedly broke into a Tuscarawas County home and stole a firearm and other property before traveling into neighboring Harrison County. From there, investigators say he entered R.K. Lindsey Funeral Home in Dennison and allegedly took clothing that made him appear associated with the business, along with the funeral home's van itself. Deputies learned the vehicle was missing early Sunday morning, according to the Tuscarawas County Sheriff's Office account relayed in the same report.
The disguise allegedly built from the stolen apparel was distinctive enough to become a key identifying detail for law enforcement. Per the Harrison County Sheriff's Office, the suspect wore a red hat, dark cutoff pants, a dark hoodie bearing the R.K. Lindsey Funeral Home name, and a black face mask also printed with the funeral home's name during the Circle K robbery. Deputies used that description, along with details of the stolen van, to issue a regional be-on-the-lookout alert.
A Getaway Vehicle With No Business Markings
The van at the center of the alert was described as a silver or gray 2018 Ford Transit bearing Ohio license plate PDT 2205, notably lacking any external business logos despite belonging to the funeral home, per the Harrison County Sheriff's Office. That stolen van was used during the armed robbery at the Scio gas station, and it became the thread investigators pulled to track the suspect across state lines.
Automated license plate reader technology detected the van in Imperial, Pennsylvania, according to the Jordan Miller News report, allowing Pennsylvania authorities to locate and take the suspect into custody there. Fisher said authorities located the man around 10:30 a.m. Sunday in Imperial, a community west of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County. Flock Safety, whose automated license plate reader network spans 49 states and logs over 20 billion vehicle scans monthly according to Flock Safety, allows participating agencies to search shared databases in real time — the kind of tool that made tracking a stolen vehicle across a state border possible within hours rather than days.
Multiple Agencies, Two States, One Morning
The cross-border apprehension required coordination among the Harrison County Sheriff's Office, Tuscarawas County Sheriff's Office, Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, and the Allegheny County Police Department, according to YourRadioPlace. Harrison County Sheriff Mark Touville issued a statement Sunday commending his deputies alongside the Ohio and Pennsylvania agencies involved for the swift inter-agency response that located the suspect within hours, per the sheriff's office. Touville said additional case information would be released once formal investigations wrap up.
The suspect admitted his involvement in the crimes, per Fisher, though authorities have not released his identity. Investigators are working to obtain warrants and plan to file formal charges, with charges expected in both Tuscarawas and Harrison counties, according to Jordan Miller News. The investigation remains ongoing.
What Happens Next: Extradition and Potential Charges
Whether the suspect will be returned to Ohio soon remains unresolved. Extradition timing depends on Pennsylvania court proceedings and any charges the suspect may separately face there, and the process could take several days, according to Fisher. Interstate transfers between the two states fall under the Uniform Criminal Extradition Act, codified in Pennsylvania at 42 Pa.C.S. § 9121, which guarantees a detained suspect a preliminary hearing before a Pennsylvania court to either waive extradition or await a formal governor's warrant, according to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Office of the General Counsel.
The Ohio charges under consideration carry significant weight. Under Ohio Revised Code § 2911.01, committing a theft while displaying or possessing a firearm constitutes aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony carrying a mandatory three to 11 years in prison and fines up to $20,000, according to Sabol Mallory LLC. Separately, stealing a firearm constitutes grand theft of a firearm, a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years, while stealing a motor vehicle is grand theft auto, a fourth-degree felony carrying up to 18 months, regardless of the vehicle's value, per McNamee Law, LLC.
R.K. Lindsey Funeral Home, the Dennison institution whose van and branded clothing were allegedly used in the spree, has deep roots in the community. The funeral home, located at 26 Grant Street, was founded by Ross K. Lindsey Sr. in the early 20th century and has operated from its current purpose-built facility since 1921, according to the funeral home's own history. Dennison itself is a historic railway village in eastern Tuscarawas County, making the funeral home's role in the alleged spree an unusual local footnote to an otherwise fast-moving multi-county case.
