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Pittsburgh man arrested in Fort Ashby bank robbery

March 14th, 2022 by WCBC Radio

According to the Mineral County Sheriff’s office, a Pittsburgh man convicted in 2007 of robbing four Pennsylvania banks was arrested Friday in connection with the February gunpoint robbery of M&T Bank at Fort Ashby. William John Birdsall, 50, was taken into custody without incident at an undisclosed location in Pittsburgh. The robbery occurred Feb. 3 at about 11 a.m. when the suspect brandished a handgun, demanded money from bank tellers and fled the area on foot. Birdsall was arrested on charges contained in a federal arrest warrant obtained through information and evidence developed by the sheriff's office, the Potomac Highlands Violent Crimes Task Force, Pittsburgh police and the FBI, which included execution of search warrants at residences in Virginia and Pennsylvania and on a vehicle that was in Birdsall's possession at the time of his arrest. According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Birdsall was convicted in 2007 of robbing Pennsylvania Citizens Bank branches in Leetsdale, Brentwood, Richland and Monroeville in 2004. He was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison and ordered to pay restitution.