Crime & Safety

Caste Village Giant Eagle Robbery Leads Area Police on Search

A man is charged again with doing something for the second time in just over a year.

A man with a history of stealing from the Giant Eagle in Whitehall Borough's Caste Village is charged with doing the same thing again after he led police from Whitehall and Castle Shannon boroughs, and Bethel Park, on a search for him through Whitehall on Saturday.

Brenton Fawcett, 37, of 353 Brookline Blvd., was arrested that day and taken to the Allegheny County Jail on charges of robbery, receiving stolen property, retail theft and defiant trespass for stealing DVDs and other merchandise from Giant Eagle at around 1:03 p.m., Whitehall police Chief Donald R. Dolfi said. (UPDATE: The robbery charge was withdrawn on Nov. 13.)

Dolfi explained that the trespass charge stems from a restriction placed on Fawcett from entering that Giant Eagle after Fawcett pleaded guilty in June to a September 2011 attempted retail theft there. On that occasion, Fawcett attempted to steal DVDs before the store manager prevented him from leaving the store.

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Police responded to the Caste Village Giant Eagle on Saturday after hearing that Fawcett was involved in another altercation with the store's manager, Dolfi said.

The manager was not injured, Dolfi said, but Fawcett got away from the manager this time and fled the store. According to an eyewitness, Fawcett, while running away, dropped a bag containing some items near the intersection of Springmeadow Court and Grove Road.

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Whitehall police shared Fawcett's description with Castle Shannon and Bethel Park police, who helped to search for the suspect. Eventually, Whitehall police found and arrested Fawcett on nearby Caste Drive.

The bag that Fawcett dropped contained the stolen goods, Dolfi said.

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