WILKES-BARRE — A Lancaster man was arraigned Tuesday on charges alleging he pulled a pistol and robbed a pet store of a Rottweiler puppy.
Kenneth L. White, 42, was arraigned on robbery, corruption of minors, and simple assault stemming from an incident earlier this year at the Tropic Pet Center at 381 South Main St. His bail was set at $50,000.
The complaint alleges that on April 24, a pet store employee flagged down Officer Edward Lewko during his patrol of South Main Plaza after her coworker was robbed by an as-of-yet unknown male with a gun. While encountering the store Lewko watched a silver Pontiac G6 with black stripes, black moldings, and a missing right rear hub cap fleeing the parking lot.
According to the complaint, one of the store clerks watched White enter the store with family members at 3 p.m. and negotiated the price for a Rottweiler puppy.
At 4:30 p.m., according to the complaint, White returned to the store and requested the male puppy from the second store employee, and when she brought it out police said he pointed a handgun at her, stated “you don’t want any problems,” grabbed the puppy, and fled.
The store clerk alerted the first clerk, who then went outside and ordered White to bring the dog back. According to the complaint, White then pointed the gun at the clerk, got into the Pontiac G6 and fled southbound on Sambourne Street.
On May 10 at 8:15 a.m., Lewko was monitoring the area surrounding Carey Avenue and Lockhart Street when he saw the Pontiac. He then conducted a traffic stop and found two minors inside the car. After calling their mothers, Lewko deemed the driver and passenger as “victims” and, after presenting them with the robbery details both minors and their mothers, all parties agreed to speak with him.
According to the complaint, the driver’s mother was aware of the robbery and said that White was responsible. She said they had contact on the day of the robbery and they were at the pet store shortly before the robbery occurred.
The driver’s mother said White asked her to pick him up at the corner of North Sherman Street and Amber Lane — near his North Sherman Street residence — and she drove White to her residence before later going to the liquor store with her daughter and another juvenile female. The group then went to the pet store and White negotiated the Rottweiler prices so the juvenile driver could have a dog.
The driver’s mother and White took the children back to her residence, and White then asked the juvenile driver to take him back to the pet store with the juvenile passenger, a 16-year-old male.
After stopping to “get money,” White and the children drove to the pet store where white told them to stay in the car — which he instructed needed to be parked around the corner — while he committed the robbery, the complaint alleges.
Police said the entire incident inside the store was captured on security cameras, and the vehicle’s movements were captured on the South Main Plaza security cameras. The puppy was recovered on April 25 after being located around Heights Murray Elementary School by a passerby who knew about the robbery.
Police said the identity of the puppy was confirmed via its microchip.
White is currently being held in Luzerne County Correctional Facility. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 26.