Alleged gas station robbers quickly caught

By RODNEY L. SHERMAN
Clarion News editor

State police quickly identified two Pittsburgh-area residents as suspects in a Wednesday morning (Feb. 7) robbery of the BP convenience store in Monroe Township.

The suspects were apprehended within hours in the Kittanning area. The pair allegedly obtained about $70 in the robbery.

Ronald James Lintner, 48, and Alicia Beth Palmquist, 38, both of Pittsburgh, are being held at the Clarion County Jail, each in lieu of $35,000 cash bail.

According to court documents, state police were contacted at an unspecified time the morning of Feb. 7 and advised by an employee of the BP convenience store she had just been robbed.

State police and other law enforcements agencies converged at the store just off Interstate 80 exit 62.

The clerk at the store told police a white male entered the store wearing a ski mask and demanded all the money in the cash register drawer.

The clerk told police she handed over about $70 in assorted bills, although the cash contained one bundle of 20 one-dollar bills with a colored clip on it.

The clerk said the suspect took the cash and fled from the store in the direction of Applebee’s restaurant.

The clerk said she grabbed her telephone to call police and went outside where she observed the suspect run up a snow bank and enter a white pick-up truck with a cap on the back.

The clerk said she observed the truck drive away between the BP and Kwik-Fill stations, then spin out through the intersection and head south along State Route 68.

Security surveillance videos from the stores showed two people standing behind the BP station.

State commander Sgt. Scott Bauer and Tpr. Vaughn Norbert, meanwhile, checked the area around Studio 6 Motel and spoke to a male witness who told police a white pick-up trick matching the description of the suspect’s vehicle had been at the motel for several days.

After interviewing motel staff and checking surveillance tapes at the motel, police determined the truck was operated by a female who had checked into the motel under the name Alicia Beth Palmquist.

Motel records showed Palmquist checked into the motel on Feb. 2 and provided her driver’s license at check-in.

Police allege Palmquist was accompanied by Lintner during her stay at the motel.

The pair checked out of the motel early Feb. 7 but informed the desk clerk they likely would return for another night.

Back at the BP station, Tpr. Steven Manns was looking at store video tape and identified Palmquist enter the store about 16 minutes before the male suspect.

Palmquist purchased a drink while observing the inside of the store and then left the store and turned right.

Approximately 16 minutes later, the male suspect, wearing he ski mask, entered the store from the same direction Palmquist had gone.

The male suspect was wearing a green coat with a glove on his left hand and a gray bag in his right hand.

The male suspect demanded the money, placed it in the nag and fled from the store. The posted height scale at the door indicated the suspect was about six feet tall.

Police issued a BOLO alert for the vehicle and were advised the truck was spotted near Kittanning at the state routes 422 and 28 intersection.

A traffic was initiated and the vehicle exited the highway and was involved in a non-reportable crash.

The suspects allegedly attempted to flee from the scene but were apprehended. Boots tracks at the vehicle crash scene matched those at the BP location.