NORRISTOWN — A Philadelphia man is headed to prison after he admitted to robbing a Wawa store in Plymouth Township, during which he got away with cash and cigarettes.
Warren Lamar Smith, 55, of the 6400 block of Akron Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 2 to 5 years in a state correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of robbery taking property by force in connection with a January 2023 incident at the Wawa store located at 1300 East Ridge Pike in Plymouth.
Judge Steven T. O’Neill ordered that Smith undergo drug and alcohol evaluations and be eligible for substance abuse disorder counseling programs while serving the sentence.
The investigation began shortly after 11 p.m. Jan. 19, 2023, when Plymouth police responded to the Wawa for a report of a robbery, according to a criminal complaint filed by Plymouth Township Detective Joseph LaPenta III.
A male clerk told police that the robber, later determined to be Smith, approached his register and asked for a carton of cigarettes. As the clerk placed the cigarettes in a shopping bag, Smith “reached into his jacket pocket and appeared to be holding something” that the clerk believed was a gun, according to the criminal complaint.
“Smith then stated ‘this is a robbery, I have a gun, put all the money from the register in the bag,’” LaPenta wrote in the arrest affidavit, adding Smith then began counting down from 10.
The clerk opened the cash register and placed currency in the shopping bag that Smith was holding and Smith then fled on foot from the store and headed westbound on Ridge Pike and then onto Jefferson Street, according to court documents.
An audit determined Smith fled the store with $343 cash and the carton of cigarettes valued at $108.
Detectives used video surveillance footage from the store to assist them in identifying Smith as the robber, court documents indicate.
Other charges of receiving stolen property, terroristic threats, retail theft and simple assault were dismissed against Smith at time of sentencing.
