SNOW HILL — One of two Pennsylvania men arrested last July in connection with the robbery of the PNC Bank in West Ocean City was found guilty this week in Worcester County Circuit Court and now awaits his fate pending the outcome of a pre-sentence investigation.
Dale Mentzer, 35, of Newmanstown, Pa., was found guilty of robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery and two counts of theft from $1,000 to under $10,000 for his role in the robbery of the PNC Bank in West Ocean City last July 23.
Mentzer’s alleged co-conspirator, Heath Derizzo, 36, of Harrisburg, Pa., was also scheduled to appear for trial on Wednesday, but his case was postponed and has been reset for this Friday, April 4.
Shortly after 9 a.m. last July 23, 2013, unidentified suspects entered the PNC Bank branch on Route 50 and demanded money. No money was given and the suspects fled the scene. No injuries were reported, nor were any weapons displayed. Early on in the investigation, with the help of media and social networks circulating surveillance images of the suspects, a possible connection was developed to a series of bank robberies in Pennsylvania the week before. For example, a video surveillance image of one of the suspects, presumed to be Derizzo, revealed the suspect wanted in connection with the Pennsylvania robberies had the same distinctive tattoo on his left arm.
Maryland State Police and Worcester County Sheriff’s Office investigators continued to follow up on leads and search for the two suspects in the hours following the West Ocean City bank robbery. Later that same night, Derizzo and Mentzer were located in a motel room in Salisbury and were taken into custody without further incident.
Search warrants were issued and executed on the motel room in Salisbury where Derizzo and Mentzer were found and arrested and evidence was collected connecting them to the West Ocean City bank robbery earlier that day. The investigation revealed Derizzo was also wanted by the Pennsylvania State Police on an outstanding warrant for parole violations and additional charges for robbery. Mentzer was also wanted in Pennsylvania for an outstanding arrest warrant for armed robbery.
Following the arrest of Mentzer and Derizzo in Salisbury last July, Pennsylvania authorities were alerted they had been taken into custody and an extended investigation into their possible involvement in a series of bank robberies there was undertaken. It is not known if Derizzo and Mentzer were charged for those robberies in Pa.