Suspect in snatch-and-run caught
A cigarette-craving, four-time felon is back behind bars following his arrest Tuesday in the snatch-and-run robbery at a Butler convenience store last week.
Butler police credited online leads in helping them track down 30-year-old Christopher A. Gratzinger.
The defendant, who has no known address, later admitted to the crime, according to court documents, even before investigators got the chance to question him.
Police allege Gratzinger walked into the E-Z Stop on North Main Street about 7 p.m. Friday and went to the counter with an ice cream bar and cans of pop and an energy drink.
He asked the clerk for a carton of cigarettes and a pair of $1 lottery tickets. But when he presented an Access benefit card, the clerk nixed the purchase.
The electronic benefits transfer card cannot be used to buy certain items, including tobacco products and lottery tickets.
With the clerk's right hand still holding the carton of Marlboro Reds, police said, Gratzinger reached over the counter and snatched it. He ran off with the smokes, valued at $79.50.
A photograph of the suspect culled from surveillance video at the store was posted on the police Facebook page, which generated tips of his identity.
Police nabbed Gratzinger after they were called Tuesday to Greco's recycling center on Kittanning Street for a man reportedly “attempting to sell a suspicious amount of copper spool,” documents said.
While in the back of a patrol car, police said, he asked Detective Nathan Shulik why he was in handcuffs. The officer advised him it was due to the incident over the weekend.
“If this is (about) the incident at E-Z Stop,” the defendant replied, according to a police affidavit, “all I did was take a carton of cigarettes.”
District Judge Sue Haggerty arraigned Gratzinger on a charge of robbery, and remanded him to the Butler County Prison on $50,000 bail.
His “extensive criminal history” was noted in arraignment papers.
Butler County court records showed Gratzinger has convictions in 13 prior criminal cases between 2006 and 2012. Among the convictions are felonies for conspiracy to commit burglary, theft and two for attempted trespass.
The robbery Friday was the second one at the E-Z Stop this month.
Police previously arrested Joseph C. Brothers Jr., 49, who has no known address, on charges that he pulled a knife during a holdup at the store July 8.
But when the clerk refused his demands for money from the cash register, police said, all that Brothers got away with was a pack of cigarettes.
He, too, remains in the county prison while he is awaiting trial in the case.
