Matthew Peltz

A suspected robber’s brand of cigarettes may help investigators connect him to three unsolved store stickups in Butler and Lawrence counties.

When state police Wednesday arrested Matthew J. Peltz, 29, on charges he stole a vehicle in Jefferson Township, he was carrying two packs of L&M Red Label cigarettes.

That’s the same brand that a bandit specifically demanded — along with money — during armed holdups between Nov. 21 and Dec. 5 at stores in Butler and Muddy Creek townships and in Scott Township, Lawrence County.

Trooper Adam Peth said Peltz already is suspected of robbing a Buffalo Township convenience store last week only an hour after he allegedly tried to rob and abduct a woman outside a store in Jefferson Township.

In between those crimes, police suspect, Peltz stole a vehicle at the same mobile home park where he lives. That trailer park is behind the Jefferson Township store.

Police nabbed Peltz at his mother’s house in Armstrong County where he had driven after allegedly stealing a woman’s 2001 Ford Explorer that she momentarily left running and unattended at the same Jefferson Township store.

District Judge Sue Haggerty on Wednesday arraigned Peltz on a charge of felony theft. He is in the Butler County Prison on $50,000 bail.

While Peltz has been charged in only one case, troopers acknowledge they soon expect to file additional charges against him in connection with the crime spree Jan. 29 in Jefferson and Buffalo township.

However, according to a search warrant application filed Thursday to allow police to comb through Peltz’s home for evidence, authorities are looking at him for a series of earlier robberies.

Those holdups occurred Nov. 21 at the Get Go gas station on Route 8 in Butler Township and Dec. 5 at both Book’s Market on Route 19 in Scott Township, Lawrence County, and the Last Minute Mart on Route 19 in Muddy Creek Township.

The three crimes shared common characteristics, leading police to suspect the same man did them.

“Any time there are multiple robberies over a month period, there’s always a possible connection,” Butler Township police Lt. Matthew Pearson said Friday. “There also were similarities in each of them.”

For example, investigators said, the robber at each store was described as a light-complected white man, between 5 feet, 7 inches and 5 feet, 9 inches tall, with a thin build, and 20 to 30 years old.

The crook in all the holdups wore a facial covered ski mask, a ski mask or bandanna to hide his face and brandished what appeared to be a black handgun.

Peth said police believe Peltz used an Airsoft or BB gun painted black during his suspected robberies.

Another similarity in the crimes was the suspect’s demeanor. Employees at the stores described him as “mild mannered and even apologetic,” police said in court documents.

The bandit during each stickup ordered the clerks to give him money and L&M Red Label cigarettes, the same brand police learned that Peltz smokes following his arrest.

Butler Township police had not identified Peltz as a suspect in the Get Go robbery until his unrelated arrest this week, Pearson admitted.

He said township police and state police are sharing information about their investigations.