Four Armed Robbery Suspects Indicted

SNOW HILL -- Four suspects arrested in early August in connection with an armed robbery at a Route 50 convenience store, followed by a chase and ultimately a crash in Ocean City were formally indicted by a Worcester County grand jury on numerous charges related to the incident.

A Worcester County grand jury last Tuesday indicted Charles Richard Conden III, 19, of Edwardsville, Pa., Sarah Jean Gryskevicz, 19, of Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Antonio Lee Suarez, 18, of Allentown, Pa., and Payne Stewart Prasnikar, 21, of Stillwater, Pa., on multiple charges including armed robbery for their role in the Aug. 3 hold-up of the Raceway Citgo store on Route 50 at Route 589. After robbing the store at gunpoint, the four suspects headed into Ocean City at a high rate of speed before crashing into a vehicle around 120th Street.

Around 5 p.m. on Aug. 3, police were monitoring the Maryland State Police radio frequency when a call went out for a reported armed robbery at the Raceway Citgo store. The suspects fled the scene in a blue Chevrolet with Pennsylvania tags and headed east on Route 50 toward Ocean City.

A vehicle description was broadcast to all officers in the area and the vehicle was soon located heading north on Coastal Highway in the area of 77th Street. OCPD officers attempted to stop the vehicle at 80th Street to no avail. During the subsequent pursuit, the vehicle reached speeds in excess of 80 mph on a crowded Coastal Highway in prime time in August.

Conden reportedly got out of the vehicle at around 100th Street and fled on foot. Meanwhile, the blue Chevrolet continued north on Coastal Highway at a high rate of speed before crashing into another vehicle while attempting to turn right. The four suspects involved in the pursuit fled the scene on foot, but were apprehended moments later by OCPD officers and bystanders.

No injuries were reported at the armed robbery at the Citgo store, but one of the suspects reportedly fired a shot after leaving the store with an undisclosed amount of money. In addition, no major injuries were reported during the vehicle collision at 120th Street.

While Gryskevicz, Suarez and Prasnikar were apprehended shortly after the crash on Coastal Highway, Conden was not caught immediately and his description was broadcast calling him likely armed and dangerous. Around 8:30 a.m. the following Tuesday, Pennsylvania State Police apprehended Conden in the area of Wyoming in Kingston, Pa. after the two-day crime spree that began in Pennsylvania and ended in the Ocean City area, including the armed robbery at the Raceway Citgo.

Prior to the armed robbery on Route 50, around 2 a.m. on Friday, Conden and another suspect shot out the door of a multi-million dollar estate owned by a prominent businessman in Lehman Township in Pennsylvania in an armed home invasion. According to a Pennsylvania State Police press release, Conden and the other suspect entered the residence, but fled after about five minutes when the estate’s burglar alarm triggered. A 90-year-old woman at home at the time barricaded herself in a closet, but no injuries were reported.

After that early morning incident on Friday, Conden and the suspects headed to the Ocean City area and carried out the armed robbery at the Route 50 convenience store. During the initial investigation, it was learned the vehicle was stolen during a robbery in Pennsylvania prior to the armed home invasion and the armed robbery in the Ocean City area.

Last Tuesday, a Worcester grand jury indicted each of the suspects on multiple counts including armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, robbery, first- and second-degree assault, the use of a handgun in the commission of a felony, reckless endangerment and others. Gryskevicz, who drove the getaway car, was also charged with numerous traffic violations.