Kenneth K. Miller

BUFFALO TWP — A Winfield Township man is accused of trying to rob a pharmacy Monday night. He reportedly was wearing a hooded sweatshirt, dark sunglasses and had a black bag containing what looked like a bomb.

“Sorry to do this,” the would-be robber said to the owner of the Colonial Pharmacy, according to court documents.

But then the would-be robber, who claimed to want painkillers for his ailing brother, allegedly took his device and left the store on Ekastown Road because the owner said all of the narcotics had been “locked up.”

Shortly after the failed robbery attempt, police found 28-year-old Kenneth K. Miller and his Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck next to a nearby garbage bin, according to court documents.

Miller, appearing nervous and still wearing the hood of his sweatshirt over his head, reportedly confessed when approached by officers, according to court records.

Miller told the officers that his brother has cancer and needs painkillers.

Miller reportedly told police that he'd put the apparent explosive device in the garbage bin. However, court records say police found it in a toolbox on Miller's truck.

Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger said the device was “meant to look like a makeshift bomb, but it was not capable of exploding.”

But investigators allegedly uncovered something else in Miller's toolbox capable of damage: a .22-caliber magnum pistol.

Miller, who has a Clearfield Road address, is charged with two counts of robbery, prohibited offensive weapon, terroristic threats, reckless endangerment, simple assault, aggravated assault, and two counts of weapons of mass destruction.

Miller was placed in the Butler County Prison, unable to post $150,000 bond.

Goldinger said he does not know if Miller has a brother or if anyone in Miller's family has cancer.

No one answered at Miller's listed telephone number and attempts to reach his attorney were not successful.

Township police did not return a telephone message.