East Liberty man used Nerf-style gun in 2 Shadyside bank robberies, police say

An East Liberty man in flip-flops used a blue and orange Nerf-style gun to rob two Shadyside banks in as many days before being arrested and confessing to the crimes, authorities said.

Rashon Coleman, 29, stormed into PNC Bank on Centre Avenue around 4:30 p.m. Monday, shoving a white, plastic grocery bag containing the toy gun into the teller’s face and screaming, “Give me $50,000!”

The teller emptied $904 from her drawer and Coleman fled, dropping $12 as he left, according to a criminal complaint filed in the case.

On Tuesday, Coleman entered First National Bank, also on Centre Avenue, and demanded cash from a teller, using expletives. After initially getting a drawer full of money, Coleman gave the tellers “50 seconds” to produce more or he threatened to shoot one of them in the head, the complaint said.

Coleman started counting but stopped when one of the tellers went to the bank’s safe and handed Coleman $6,344, according to the complaint.

As Coleman fled along South Highland Avenue toward Stevenson Place, Pittsburgh police Detective Matt Tracy spotted him wearing the same clothing from the PNC Bank robbery: a jean jacket, blue hat, flip-flops and socks, authorities said.

Coleman, who was released from county jail last week for an unrelated crime, was taken into custody without incident at 11:24 a.m.

At the time of his arrest, Coleman was carrying a plastic bag with the blue and orange Nerf-style gun and an Aldi bag containing a large amount of cash, with cash bands still wrapped around some of the money, the complaint said.

Coleman later confessed to Pittsburgh police and an FBI agent that he committed both robberies, the complaint said. Coleman told investigators “that his family is having issues and he needed the money,” police said.

Coleman was in Allegheny County Jail awaiting a preliminary arraignment Wednesday afternoon.

He is facing four counts of robbery and two counts of theft by unlawful taking.

Court records show Coleman has been arrested at least three other times this year. He pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in connection with a March 5 incident in Pittsburgh. He also was charged with harassment stemming from a March 15 incident in Pittsburgh and with retail theft in connection with a March 16 incident in Pittsburgh.

An attorney with the Allegheny County Public Defender’s Office, who represented Coleman in one of the March cases, did not return a call seeking comment Wednesday afternoon.