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Former members of Memorial Presbyterian invited to tour renovated church

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Local roundup: Wilkes-Barre Area gets first tennis victory

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; A videotape confession of a Pizza Hut robbery in Philadelphia can be used against a man who Wilkes-Barre police alleged robbed a Curry Donuts at gunpoint last year.</p><p>Luzerne County Assistant District Attorney Drew McLaughlin said the taped confession by Rodney Carroll, 44, to police in Philadelphia does not mention the Curry Donuts hold-up.</p><p>McLaughlin said the confession is only going to be used to show Carroll&#8217;s alleged method of committing robberies.</p><p>Police allege Carroll on March 30, 2018, entered the doughnut shop on South Pennsylvania Avenue with what appeared to be a short-barrel AR-15 rifle he aimed at two employees, ordering them to the floor while demanding cash.</p><p>Carroll sped away in a Ford Fusion with a New Jersey license plate, the same vehicle he allegedly used in an armed robbery at a Pizza Hut restaurant in Philadelphia on April 5.</p><p>Carroll was found hiding in a wooded area near the Philadelphia Pizza Hut, and authorities discovered the weapon that turned out to be a plastic Airsoft rifle with a broken-off stock to make it look shorter, court records say.</p><p>After a motions hearing Tuesday, Judge David W. Lupas permitted prosecutors to use Carroll&#8217;s videotape confession during his trial scheduled to begin Sept. 23.</p><p>Carroll&#8217;s attorney, Charles Ross, argued the taped confession is unfair and &#8220;highly prejudicial&#8221;to his defense.</p><p>&#8220;Evidence of the Pizza Hut robbery will weigh too heavily with a jury and overpersuade them to prejudge (Carroll) and deny him a fair opportunity to defend against the Curry Donuts charge,&#8221; Ross stated.</p><p>Ross noted the confession Carroll allegedly made to Philadelphia police has nothing to do with the Curry Donuts robbery.</p><p>&#8220;Allowing the Pizza Hut confession into evidence will discourage the jury from independently deciding (Carroll&#8217;s) case. It will produce an &#8216;it must be him&#8217; attitude in the jury and they will rush to judgment without considering the independence of the Curry Donuts incident,&#8221; Ross stated.</p><p>McLaughlin said the taped confession will show Carroll&#8217;s method of robbing restaurants by using a pellet gun that looks to be an authentic firearm, selecting restaurants on busy highways for a quick escape and committing robberies at night when there is less likely witnesses around.</p><p>In the Pizza Hut case, court records say Carroll is challenging his confession claiming he invoked his right to an attorney before police began recording the interview.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/web1_Curry-Donut-WB-robbery-03302018.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wilkes-Barre police released a surveillance picture of man who robbed Curry Donuts on South Pennsylvania Boulevard on March 30, 2018.  </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/web1_Curry-Donut-WB-robbery-03302018.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wilkes-Barre police released a surveillance picture of man who robbed Curry Donuts on South Pennsylvania Boulevard on March 30, 2018.  </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Ed Lewis</p><p>elewis@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

Judge permits taped confession of Philadelphia robbery at trial for Curry Donuts holdup