DuBois couple held in pair of armed robberies
Mazza, Herren allegedly robbed two businesses
Mazza
Herren
Mazza
Herren
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A DuBois couple accused in a pair of armed robberies in Blair County are behind bars.
Joseph Michael Mazza, 30, and Amber Lyn Herren, 25, were arrested during a traffic stop Monday afternoon on Route 322 near Port Matilda. The couple's baby was found in the vehicle, along with the gun allegedly used in the robberies, court documents state.
According to the affidavits in the two cases, Altoona police responded to the Unique Tobacco Store, 1313 Valley View Blvd., for an armed robbery about 7:10 a.m. Monday.
While on scene, police were notified of a second robbery, this one at the Dollar General Store in the Bald Eagle area of Tyrone, with dispatchers reporting that the descriptions matched those involved in the tobacco store robbery.
In the tobacco store heist, a woman, later identified as Herren, appeared from behind the store and approached the main entrance from Madison Avenue. She entered, went to the coolers and purchased a soda. After paying for the drink, Herren left, walked toward Madison Avenue and went around the corner to the back of the building, out of camera sight, police reported.
Video shows that after a few minutes, a black SUV slowly pulls into view from around the back of the building, stops and drops off a male, later identified as Mazza. The SUV is quickly driven away and Mazza begins to walk to the front entrance of the store. He can be seen already wearing a black or blue bandana to cover most of his face. He is also wearing gloves and carrying a handgun, court documents state.
The female victim manning the store told police the man entered the store, walked up the counter, pointed the gun at her and said, "Give me the money or I'll kill you." He gave her a large black plastic bag into which she put the Skills Machine money. When she tried to give the bag back, he replied, "Need more money or I'll kill you," she told police. She then took money out of the store's safe and put it in the bag as well, she said.
He took the bag and said. "Thank you." before leaving the store, the victim said.
The male was seen on video wearing a black Pittsburgh Pirates cap backward, the bandana, gloves, a black sweatshirt and faded blue jeans, court documents state.
After hearing about the Dollar General robbery, police discovered the suspects conducted the robbery in a similar fashion, with the female entering to purchase an item and the male entering and completing the robbery.
The female suspect was seen on video at the tobacco store with her dirty blonde hair pulled into a bun. She was wearing a light pink floral tank top, gray sweatpants and had numerous tattoos on both of her arms, police reported.
According to video surveillance from the Dollar General Store, the same couple committed both robberies and a photo of the female was posted to the Altoona Police Department's Facebook page. Shortly after, police received information that Herren was the woman pictured, court documents state.
In the Dollar General robbery, Herren attempted to enter the store at 7:40 a.m. while it was closed, then came back at 9:05 a.m. to purchase a Winnie the Pooh brush and comb set with a $100 bill, according to the report. About 9:23 a.m. state police were dispatched for an armed robbery in progress in which the male suspect displayed a pistol and told the clerk to "give him all the money in the store."
Less than 30 minutes later, state police on the lookout for the SUV and a couple matching their descriptions, made a traffic stop on Route 322 near 3630 Skytop Mountain Road, Patton Township, Centre County. The vehicle, a 2014 Nissan Pathfinder, matched the description, court documents state, and both Mazza and Herren were found to be wearing the clothing seen in video surveillance.
Herren was driving the vehicle, police reported, and the couple had their 1-month-old daughter with them.
A search of Mazza turned up a Remington single stack pistol magazine loaded with rounds for a 9 mm.
After police secured a search warrant on the vehicle, a Remington R51 9 mm pistol, loaded with seven rounds, was found in a diaper bag, along with $5,580 in cash. An additional $5 bill was found on the front passenger floor. Investigators also found the ball cap, bandanas and gloves allegedly worn by Mazza, the report states.
While Mazza was uncooperative and refused to speak with police, Herren cooperated and provided details surrounding the robbery at Unique Tobacco, explaining she and Mazza left their hotel room at the Altoona Grand Hotel about 4 a.m. and began searching for a store to rob. She also provided details about the armed robbery at the Dollar General in Tyrone, police reported.
Both Herren and Mazza were arraigned Monday night before Magisterial District Judge Benjamin F. Jones.
Herren faces 17 charges across the two cases, including felony charges of robbery, endangering the welfare of children, conspiracy to robbery and firearms not be carried without a license, along with misdemeanor counts of possession of a weapon, terroristic threats, theft, simple assault, receiving stolen property and recklessly endangering another person. Bail was set at $50,000 in each of the two cases, and she was remanded to the Blair County Prison. Her preliminary hearing in the tobacco case is set for July 19 before Jones and on July 25 before Magisterial District Judge Fred B. Miller in the Dollar General case.
Mazza faces 21 charges across the two cases, including felony charges of robbery, conspiracy to robbery, possession of a firearm prohibited, endangering the welfare of children, terroristic threats and carrying a firearm without a license, along with misdemeanor charges of simple assault, possession of a weapon, receiving stolen property, theft and recklessly endangering another person. His preliminary hearing in the tobacco case is set for July 19 before Jones and in the Dollar General case on July 25 before Miller.
Court documents state that Mazza has an extensive criminal history, including robbery, burglary, theft, assaults, weapons violations and drug convictions.
Bail was denied in both of his cases, with the reason given as "defendant is an extreme risk to community safety," he has a "violent criminal history" and "proof is evident," according to docket information.