Four suspects have been charged — but only one apprehended — for armed robbery after stealing $25,000 worth of merchandise from a Wilmerding vape shop earlier this month.
Police said the group — Israel Creath, 19, of North Versailles; Jaamayl Crosby, 20, of Pittsburgh; Jaamar Crosby, 17, of Dayton, Ohio; and Terrell Johnson, 17, of Wilmerding — were masked and dressed in black when they walked into Mik’s Vape Shop around 11:30 a.m. on April 14.
The clerk at the Commerce Street shop told police one of the men opened his jacket, revealing a gun, according to a complaint in the case. The suspect didn’t fully remove the weapon from his jacket, but he kept his hand on it, the complaint said.
“Lay on the ground,” the man told the clerk, according to the complaint.
When the clerk complied, the men started taking merchandise, the complaint said. They made off with about $25,000 worth of goods.
Multiple witnesses saw the four men run from the vape shop and get into a white sedan, the complaint said. Police said street cameras showed a white Hyundai sedan with “excessively dark window tint” drive away.
Police said they later discovered someone had been swapping license plates on the sedan, the complaint said. At one time, it bore Tennessee plates. The day before the robbery, its plates came from Pennsylvania.
Two days after the robbery, a detective spotted the Hyundai in a West Mifflin parking lot, the complaint said. A search of the vehicle turned up “numerous items reported stolen from Mik’s Vape Shop,” including vape pens, vape cartridges and empty vape product boxes.
Police also found a fingerprint order and criminal docket sheet related to Creath and Jaamayl Crosby, the complaint said. The Tennessee plate was found inside the Hyundai’s trunk.
The owner of the vehicle, who police identified in court records as Witness #1, initially told authorities she knew nothing about the robbery, the complaint said.
You “know how this works,” she later told police, the complaint said. Officers said the woman implied she was reluctant to speak with authorities because she feared retaliation.
At that time, police said they identified Creath as a suspect in the robbery.
On April 17, Creath was involved in a domestic incident at the home of a person identified in court records as Witness #2.
That witness later told police Creath and Jaamar Crosby, Jaamayl’s brother — came to her home with two backpacks, the complaint said. Police said the merchandise inside those bags was stolen from the vape shop.
Police said Witness #2 questioned the men that day about what they were carrying.
“You know that store that got robbed the other day?” Creath asked Witness #1, according to the complaint. “We held them at gunpoint.”
Three days after the domestic incident — on April 20 — Creath admitted to a detective that he was involved in the armed robbery, the complaint said. He also told them Jaamar Crosby acted as a “lookout” during the crime.
That same day, Witness #1 “made incriminating statements” to police, the complaint said. She told authorities two of the suspects had stayed at her home the night before the robbery.
The pair took the keys to her Hyundai, the complaint said. But she told police she didn’t know the group intended to rob the store.
The woman said the four men — Creath, Jaamayl Crosby, Jaamar Crosby and a man she only knew as “Rel” — returned to her apartment after the robbery, the complaint said. They had “vape products and jars of marijuana in their possession.”
The women later identified all four defendants when viewing surveillance footage of the crime.
Allegheny County Police have charged all four men with robbery and theft by unlawful taking.
Creath also was charged with retail theft.
Jaamayl Crosby faces three additional charges: making terroristic threats, conspiracy to commit robbery and simple assault. Jaamar Crosby faces two additional charges: making terroristic threats and conspiracy to commit robbery
Police also charged Johnson with retail theft, conspiracy to commit robbery, and simple assault.
Creath was arrested Sunday, court records show. He was taken to the Allegheny County Jail and a judge denied bail, citing public safety.
Creath’s attorney was not listed Thursday.
Court records indicate the three other men have not been taken into custody.
A police spokesman did not return phone calls Thursday seeking comment.