Six days after pocketing a third of the $3,000 he allegedly robbed from Cosmo's Cheesesteaks in South Scranton with the help of an employee, police say Logan Oprisko went out for more.
Mr. Oprisko, 21, of Scranton, and Daniel Malpasse, 21, 608 S. Main Ave., called McCarthy Flowered Cabs shortly before 5 a.m. on Oct. 27 and asked to have a taxi sent to Pittston Avenue and Fig Street.
Once the taxi drove them to their destination, the 300 block of East Locust Street, Mr. Malpasse slipped a crowbar over the driver's neck, pulled back to choke him between the bar and his seat, and both men yelled for him to hand over all his money before they "split (his) skull wide open," according to a criminal complaint.
The driver tried to explain that he had just dropped his cash off as Mr. Oprisko beat him with a hammer, the complaint said.
Once the driver began sounding his car's horn, the two men finally fled, leaving him bloodied with cuts to his head, face and neck, police said.
As police Detectives James Pappas and Michael Schultz went about their investigation, Mr. Malpasse and Mr. Oprisko came up as suspects.
On Oct. 30, Detective Pappas sat Mr. Malpasse down for an interview. He ultimately confessed to the taxi robbery, police said, and was charged with three counts of robbery, among related charges. He was unable to post bail and is in Lackawanna County Prison.
When Mr. Malpasse identified Mr. Oprisko as his partner in the taxi crime, Detective Pappas asked if he knew anything about the robbery at Cosmo's, 532 Moosic St., on Oct. 21.
It was not a shot in the dark.
From the outset of their investigation, the detectives suspected the restaurant manager, Sharon Delguercio, 24, 1026 Cedar Ave., as an accomplice to the robbery, as her story that night did not quite match with the accounts of the two witnesses in the restaurant at the time.
Ms. Delguercio's boyfriend, James Gonzalez, 25, 1418 Pittston Ave., rear apartment, also aroused the detectives' suspicions, as his name was familiar to them from previous investigations.
Knowing Mr. Oprisko to be an associate of Mr. Gonzalez, who was in the restaurant about an hour before the robbery, Detective Pappas brought the restaurant robbery up to Mr. Malpasse after he confessed to the taxi robbery.
Sure enough, Mr. Oprisko had told Mr. Malpasse the night of the taxi robbery that he pulled off the Cosmo's robbery with "help on the inside," according to the complaint.
He knew the manager's boyfriend, Mr. Oprisko had told Mr. Malpasse, and made off with $3,000 that night.
With that, the detectives went back to Ms. Delguercio, who admitted to her role in the robbery.
She felt underpaid and taken advantage of by her boss, so Ms. Delguercio and her boyfriend, Mr. Gonzalez, allegedly put the plan together.
Mr. Gonzalez would get his friend, Mr. Oprisko, to be the gunman so Mr. Gonzalez could head home before the robbery to establish an alibi, police said.
Ms. Delguercio was to send the restaurant's cook home early so only she and a female clerk would be present during the robbery. A friend of the clerk had unexpectedly arrived before Mr. Oprisko that night, but otherwise the robbery went as planned, according to the complaint.
After Mr. Oprisko pointed a gun in her face, Ms. Delguercio handed him the money from both the register and the cash deposit box.
When she went home that night, Mr. Gonzalez was waiting with her $1,000 share of the loot, which he had split up with Mr. Oprisko after he fled the scene, according to the complaint.
On Monday, Mr. Oprisko, Mr. Gonzalez and Ms. Delguercio were each arraigned on robbery and related charges.
Mr. Oprisko was sent to Lackawanna County Prison in lieu of a combined $75,000 bail.
Arraignment and bail information for Mr. Gonzales and Mr. Delguercio was unavailable Monday night.
Contact the writer: domalley@timesshamrock.com, Follow @domalleytt on Twitter