by peter e. bortner
Darrell D. Dixon testified Thursday in Schuylkill County Court that he had no idea the passenger in the minivan he was driving wanted to rob Miners Bank in Tremont in August 2012.
"By the time I got behind the houses, he was already coming out," Dixon, 29, said of Juan R. Cooke II, who police say stole $18,222.32, left the bank and returned to Dixon's minivan.
Dixon's denial followed a parade of bank employees and state police officers who testified as to what occurred at the 29 E. Main St. bank at 9:22 a.m. Aug. 23, 2012, in the subsequent chase along Interstate 81 and at the station in Schuylkill Haven when Dixon allegedly admitted his role in the heist.
"Mr. Cooke offered him $1,000 to provide a ride for him to Tremont," is what Dixon said, state police Trooper Thomas Robin testified.
Both First Assistant District Attorney Thomas J. Campion Jr. and Robert I. Lipkin, Pottsville, Dixon's lawyer, finished presenting their cases on Thursday, the first day of the trial over which President Judge William E. Baldwin is presiding. The case is scheduled to resume at 9 a.m. today with Lipkin's and Campion's closing arguments.
Dixon is being held in the county prison in lieu of $250,000 straight cash bail pending the outcome of his trial.
State police at Schuylkill Haven have charged Dixon with two counts of robbery and one each of conspiracy, theft, receiving stolen property, fleeing or eluding police, driving under suspension, careless driving and reckless driving.
Police said Dixon drove the minivan to Tremont, where Cooke entered the bank and demanded the tellers give him the money.
"He threatened to blow our heads off and kill us," teller Jessica Smith testified of the man in the bank.
While prosecutors do not allege that Dixon entered the bank and terrorized the tellers, they say he drove Cooke away from the scene in exchange for the $1,000 and tried to run from police before crashing the Chrysler Town & Country minivan on Interstate 81 in Dauphin County.
"The van was driving recklessly," passing other vehicles and speeding at more than 100 mph before fishtailing and flipping, testified state police Trooper William Macfarlane, who, along with state police Trooper Kyle Kutz, identified Dixon as the driver.
Dixon did not deny running from police, but said it was not because he participated in the robbery.
"I was scared. I didn't know what was going on," he said.
Dixon also denied telling Robin that Cooke offered him $1,000, and that both Robin and state police Trooper Bernard Walasavage were wrong in saying he did. He said he had no knowledge of what Cooke wanted to do and that Cooke never told him.
"Did you know Juan Cooke was going to rob a bank?" Lipkin asked Dixon.
"No," Dixon answered.
"Did you know he was going to go to Tremont to commit any kind of crime?"
"No."
Lipkin attempted to call Cooke as a witness, but the latter exercised his right against self-incrimination and refused to testify.
When cross-examined by Campion, Dixon said Cooke never told him exactly where he wanted to go or what he wanted to do when he got there. He also said he never asked Cooke even when he came back to the van in Tremont about a minute after leaving it or at any time during the ride away from the bank.
"You didn't think there was anything unusual about this?" Campion asked Dixon.
"I didn't think he'd put me in a situation like this. No, I didn't," Dixon replied.
He also denied seeing any money in the van, even though state police Cpl. Bernard S. Spece Jr. testified that it could hardly be missed.
"There was money strewn throughout the interior of the minivan," Spece said.
Spece said that the cash included "bait money" from the bank, bills whose serial numbers had been recorded.
Both Smith and fellow teller Rosann Madenford identified their lists of bait money.
For Madenford, the robbery was particularly terrifying.
"I actually froze," and the robber had to put the money from her drawer in the bag, she testified.
On Wednesday, a different jury convicted Kevin E. Smith, 29, of Harrisburg, of two counts each of robbery, theft and receiving stolen property for robbing Miners Bank, Tremont, on June 6, 2012, and Halifax National Bank, Tower City, on June 29, 2012.
Cooke, 32, of Harrisburg, who is charged with three counts of recklessly endangering another person, two of robbery and one each of terroristic threats, theft and receiving stolen property, is scheduled to plead guilty and be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. April 24 before Judge James P. Goodman. Defendant: Darrell D. Dixon
Age: 29
Residence: Harrisburg
Charges: Two counts of robbery and one each of conspiracy, theft, receiving stolen property, fleeing or eluding police, driving under suspension, careless driving and reckless driving