Police: Daughter Sets Her Father Up To Be Robbed In His Westmoreland Co. Home, But Her Brother Accidentally Catches One Of The Suspects
FAIRFIELD TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) - Dennis Paul Stiffey says he simply can't understand why it happened.
"Yes, indeed, it just gutted me," he says.
The soon-to-be 82-year-old was allegedly attacked and robbed by 41-year-old Lawrence McLaughlin and 44-year-old Maurice Terrell Patterson inside his Fairfield Township home. The pair allegedly put duct tape on his legs and hands, then put a pillow case on his head.
"I was lying on the couch. Oh man, I thought they were gonna kill me," he says.
Tonight on KDKA! State Police say Lawrence McLaughlin was hitch hiking in Boliver Westmoco when he got a ride. He told the driver he was at a party where he robbed a guy for $1900. McLaughlin had no idea the driver giving him a lift was the robbery victim's son! pic.twitter.com/zM9kMtrKRR
— Ross Guidotti (@RossGuidotti) June 23, 2020
State police say the two stole $1,900 cash. Patterson took off in a getaway car, leaving McLaughlin all alone.
McLaughlin, who is from Johnstown, was roaming around Bolivar looking for a lift. He got lucky someone was willing to give him a ride, but according to state police, this is where McLaughlin should have kept his mouth shut.
Behind the wheel of that car was the victim's son, Ken Stiffey, who knew what had happened to his dad.
"This guy starts spilling his guts, Ken starts digging deeper, this guy telling him 'we went to a party up on the hill, that was the slickest $1,900 we ever got," says the older Stiffey.
Keeping his cool, Ken Stiffey called troopers after dropping off McLaughlin at a New Florence convenience store. Maurice Patterson would be arrested afterward. And according to investigators and the victim, the mastermind behind the alleged robbery was Dennis Stiffey's own daughter and Patterson's girlfriend.
"If she'd asked, I'd given her money if she needed it. She says 'dad I need a couple hundred,' I'd have given it to her," says Dennis Stiffey.
McLaughlin and Patterson are in jail tonight while Michelle Stiffey is free on bond. They're facing charges including robbery, assault and conspiracy.