Police arrest suspect in Oakland bank robbery

By Michael Macagnone

Police arrested the man they said robbed the Parkvale Bank in Oakland Wednesday… Police arrested the man they said robbed the Parkvale Bank in Oakland Wednesday afternoon.

Thomas Doyle, a 54-year-old man from Mt. Washington, was arrested by police in Allentown, and charged in relation to the robbery hours after the bank on the 3500 block of Forbes Avenue was robbed. Police said that Doyle committed another three robberies in Pittsburgh, and was wanted on warrants in Upper St. Clair and Crafton.

Police said that Doyle was responsible for the robberies of the Subway restaurant on the 2100 block of Brownsville Road on Oct. 10, of a CoGo’s on Bailey Avenue in Mt. Washington on Feb. 9 and another robbery two days later at a CoGo’s on the 300 block of Virginia Avenue in Mt. Washington.

The suspect in the Parkvale Bank robbery, described as a 60-year-old white male with gray hair and a gray sweatshirt, went up to the window and handed the teller a note demanding money, police said. The teller then handed over an undisclosed amount of money, which police said the suspect folded in the note before exiting the bank.

Another witness told police that he saw the suspect enter a maroon Jeep and drive down Semple Street to leave the area. Police said that they identified Doyle from surveillance footage at the bank and found the Jeep — which police said was stolen from Crafton — shortly before arresting Doyle.