Dormont Dogs Owner Arrested for Bank Robberies

Pittsburgh police arrested a Dormont restaurant owner in connection with two local bank robberies.

Captain Barnes, 37, of Dormont, was taken into custody Wednesday and charged with robbing the PNC Bank branch on Brookline Boulevard on Monday, Feb. 13. Barnes is the co-owner of Dormont Dogs.

He also will be charged with robbing the Citizens Bank branch located at the Giant Eagle in Pittsburgh's South Side neighborhood Wednesday morning.

According to a report by the Pittsburgh police, Barnes walked into the PNC Bank in Brookline around 10:50 a.m. Monday, told a teller he was armed with a gun and demanded $10,000 in cash. After the teller gave him an undisclosed amount, he told the teller not to call the police, and that he had planted a bomb in the bank. He then fled on foot.

On Wednesday morning around 10:45 a.m., Barnes walked into the Citizens Bank branch in the South Side Giant Eagle and demanded cash from two tellers. According to the police report, he threatened to harm the tellers if they did not comply. As Barnes was leaving the bank, he was stopped by a Giant Eagle store manager, store employee and another customer, and held until police arrived.

According to a WPXI television report Wednesday evening, police obtained a search warrant after Barnes was arrested and found money in a cooler at Dormont Dogs. The money could be connected to a bank robbery on Monday at the PNC Bank branch on Banksville Road, according to WPXI's report. Barnes has not been charged in connection with that robbery.

"I just want my wife and kids to know I love them," Barnes told WPXI news cameras.

Barnes is charged with five counts of robbery and is being held in the Allegheny County jail awaiting arraignment Wednesday night.

Earlier this week, the Dormont-Brookline Patch featured a story about the owners of Dormont Dogs.