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Suspect arrested in North Canton, Pennsylvania bank robbery

Three Canton-area residents accused of robbing a Pennsylvania bank last week are believed to have been involved in the robbery of the Citizens Bank in North Canton last month, North Canton police said Saturday.

North Canton police listed suspects as 32-year-old Matthew D. Smith, 36-year-old Christopher Lucius and 43-year-old Latoya Young, all with addresses in Canton.

Police did not say what evidence they had linking the three to the July 18 bank robbery.

Police said a man wearing a dark medical mask and a hoodie displayed a gun at the Citizens Bank at 1000 N. Main Street on July 18. According to witnesses, he took an undisclosed amount of cash and fled as a passenger in a stolen Honda Civic.

Related: Police: Masked and armed man robs Citizens Bank in North Canton

Canton trio charged with Pennsylvania bank robbery

At 12:40 p.m. Wednesday, Center Township police in Beaver County, along with officers from nearby police departments in Aliquippa and Monaca, Pennsylvania, responded to a report of a bank robbery. The robbery took place at the First Commonwealth Bank branch at 80 Wagner Road, Center Township Police Chief Aldo Legge told Beaver County Radio.

The bank is about a 96-minute drive from North Canton.

The three Canton residents were arrested after the robbery. Legge told Beaver County Radio that $80,000 was stolen from the bank.

According to Beaver County online court records, the three were arraigned in Magistrate District Court on Wednesday evening. They are being held in the Beaver County Jail on $1 million bail each. A preliminary court hearing is scheduled for Sept. 11. The three are charged with robbery with threat of immediate serious harm, robbery with demand for money from a financial institution and conspiracy to commit robbery with threat of immediate serious harm. Lucius and Young are also charged with conspiracy to commit robbery with demand for money from a financial institution.

The North Canton police statement said officials expect the U.S. Attorney's Office to file federal charges against the defendants “along with other local cases.”

North Canton police said they were working with the FBI in the search for the suspects and were conducting surveillance on the three on Wednesday. The statement said the FBI and Pennsylvania State Police were involved in the arrest of the three.

As of Saturday, no charges had appeared against the three in federal court, and no local charges related to bank robberies were found in Stark County's online court records.

Reach Robert at [email protected]. X, formerly Twitter: @rwangREP.

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