Pennsylvania Men Stage Reality-TV Robbery - East Idaho News
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Pennsylvania Men Stage Reality-TV Robbery

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080712 ABCPizzaRobbery?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1344369250727ABC News(INDIANA, Pa.) — Two men were arrested in Indiana, Pa. for robbing employees of a local pizzeria while recording the incident with a cell phone and telling the victims they were being featured on a reality television show.

Randall Smith, 21, of Temple Hills, Md. and Artie Goodwine, 18, of Memphis, Tenn. were charged with robbery, simple assault and disorderly conduct after they attempted to rob the owner and the manager of Fox’s Pizza Den early Sunday morning outside the store.

Earl Mallier, the owner of Fox’s Pizza Den, said that he and his manager, Austin Harnish, 19, were closing up when the store’s fire alarm went off. While waiting outside the pizza shop for the fire department to come, they were approached from behind by two men.

“One male came up behind us, and put us both in a headlock,” Mallier said. “He told the other male to start recording it.”

Mallier said that one of the assailants held up his cell phone and said, “You’re going to be on a reality show called You Just Got Robbed.”

“I thought it was a joke at first,” Harnish told ABC affiliate WTAE. “It got real real, real quick.”

Mallier said that Smith and Goodwine demanded their money. Mallier said Harnish was pushed up against the wall, and handed one of the men the $20 he had in his wallet.

The two pizza employees then began to yell out for help, hoping to get the attention of police officers outside a nearby bar. That’s when Smith and Goodwine took off, police said.

“The officers saw the two assailants running and they chased them down,” said Indiana Borough Police Chief William Sutton.

In addition to the robbery and assault charges, Smith was charged with resisting arrest, and Goodwine was charged with purchasing alcohol as a minor, said Sgt. Rick Fatula of the Indiana County Jail.

WTAE reported that Smith and Goodwine are students at WyoTech, a technical school in nearby Blairsville, Pa.

Sutton said that officers confiscated the iPhone the men used to record the robbery. He said he did not know if there was an actual recording of the incident on the phone.

Smith and Goodwine were taken into custody at Indiana County Jail. Their bonds were posted at $25,000 each, said Fatula.

Smith bonded out, but Goodwine is still in custody, he said.

The preliminary hearing for the alleged phony reality TV robbers is scheduled for August 20 at Indiana County District Court. Neither have an attorney listed at present time, said a spokeswoman for the court.

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