Man pleads guilty in SR robbery
A Slippery Rock man, charged with robbing a borough restaurant with a hammer, entered a guilty plea in Butler County Court on Tuesday.
Terrence J. Mack, 25, pleaded guilty to felony robbery before county Judge William Shaffer.
The plea agreement calls for a sentence of three to 10 years in a state correctional institution when he is sentenced on July 13.
Mack was charged, alongside Robert L. Coburn, 33, also of Slippery Rock, after an incident at the Subway restaurant, 432 S. Main St., Slippery Rock, on May 18, 2016.
Borough police said a man wearing a black hooded coat and a gray ski mask entered the store around 6 p.m. demanded the store's money box after threatening two employees with a hammer. He then fled in a vehicle.
Employees identified Mack as the suspect by his voice, as he was a former employee. According to the affidavit of probable cause one employee also witnessed Mack removing his mask as he ran off, and positively identified him.
Police pulled over the vehicle on New Castle Street and the driver was identified as Coburn, police said.
The affidavit states police found Mack in the passenger seat wearing a black hooded jacket with cash totaling $297, as well as a yellow-and-black framing hammer, a gray ski mask and a black steel money box on the passenger-side floor board.
The document states that Coburn told police that he picked up Mack, who asked him to drive to the rear of the shop, and Mack got out before returning a short time later and “yelling to him to 'Drive!'”
The affidavit states Coburn admitted he did not have a driver's license and is taking multiple prescription medications, and he was arrested and charged.
Mack's initial charges included felony robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, misdemeanor theft, disorderly conduct, possession of a controlled substance and possession of instrument of crime with intent. The remaining charges were dismissed due to the plea.
Coburn is scheduled for jury selection in the case against him starting Thursday, and trial starting June 19.
Mack also pleaded guilty to a charge of misdemeanor default appearance after an incident on Jan. 2. He was initially charged with felony escape, which was dismissed as part of the plea, after Butler County detectives said Mack escaped from the VA Butler Healthcare facility, where he had been taken for unspecified treatment, after leaving the facility without the court's permission or knowledge. He had been placed there for treatment Nov. 7.
The plea agreement calls for a three- to six-month concurrent sentence to the robbery sentence.
Mack continues to be held in the Butler County Prison on combined $75,000 bail, until sentencing and being turned over to state correctional authorities.
