Friday, June 1, 2001
Friday, June 1, 2001 |
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Suspect in PTC restaurant theft, convenience store robbery collared in Florida By JOHN
MUNFORD
With assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a Peachtree City man is now in custody in Gainesville, Fla., facing local charges of robbing a convenience store and stealing several thousand dollars from a local restaurant. Michael Lorusso, 32, was arrested Tuesday and is awaiting extradition to Fayette County so he may face robbery and theft charges, according to the Peachtree City Police Department, which investigated the cases. The robbery charge stems from an incident at the Pit Stop convenience store May 8 in which an unarmed suspect forcibly took an unreported amount of cash from the cashier on duty, according to a police report. The theft charge is related to the taking of over $8,000 from an unsecured office of the Atlanta Bread Company in Peachtree City May 19, police said. Lorusso was employed at the restaurant for a short period of time prior to the alleged theft and failed to show up for work after the incident occurred, police indicated. Detectives found evidence at both crime scenes linking Lorusso to the crime, according to police. Lorusso was tracked down after police questioned one of his acquaintances while serving a search warrant at his apartment on Wisdom Road, according to police accounts. It was then that police learned Lorusso had fled the state soon after the alleged theft from the Atlanta Bread Company. At that time, the FBI was contacted for assistance in apprehending Lorusso. A federal warrant was later taken for his arrest on charges of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, police said. The FBI located Lorusso after learning he had purchased bus tickets and was en route from Gainesville to Atlanta. He was taken into custody without incident by Florida officers, police said.
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