1996 PNC bank robbery

1996 PNC bank robbery
The PNC Feltonville bank as it appears today
Location	Feltonville, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Date	2 January 1996 08:30 (UTC-05:00)
Target	PNC bank
Weapons	.380 pistol, 9mm pistol
Deaths	1
Perpetrators	Warren McGlone, Christopher Roney and Ernest Mark Canty

The 1996 PNC bank robbery was a failed robbery attempt on a PNC bank branch in Feltonville, Philadelphia on Tuesday 2 January 1996. The robbery was carried out by rappers Warren "Steady B" McGlone, and Christopher "Cool C" Roney, and associate Ernest Mark Canty. McGlone and Roney had risen to success in the late 1980s, but their careers had waned by the mid-1990s after both releasing unsuccessful solo albums and an album as members of the group C.E.B. (an initialism of Countin' Endless Bank).

At approximately 8:30 a.m., when the bank was being opened, Roney and Canty entered and brandished pistols at the three employees inside. However, a silent alarm was hit and police were dispatched to the scene. Police officer Lauretha Vaird was the first to arrive at the scene, and entered the bank. Roney fired a single bullet from his .380-caliber pistol at Vaird, striking her in the chest at close range. Vaird, a 43-year-old mother, died on an operating table at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children an hour later. She was the first Philadelphia policewoman to be killed in the line of duty.

After exiting the bank without taking any money, Roney exchanged shots with another police officer before fleeing in a stolen green minivan driven by McGlone. Canty was left behind and instead ran on foot. The three men met at McGlone's apartment after the robbery, watched television coverage of the robbery and discussed their next moves before seperating.

Roney's pistol and Canty's 9mm were left on the sidewalk outside the bank. Police found the men by tracing the weapons, which were both bought legally by people who knew the suspects. After one failed a lie detector test, they told police about McGlone's role in the robbery. McGlone was arrested outside his home on 4 January 1996, and brought in for questioning. He informed police who the other two men involved were, and warrants were issued for their arrest. Roney surrendered two days later, while Canty was captured in Maryland on 13 January by police officers making a routine traffic stop. Out of the three, Canty was the only one believed to have participated in a bank robbery before. McGlone was convicted in 1993 of carrying a .45 without a license, while Roney did not have a criminal record. 

Trials for the three men began in October 1996 infront of a jury. They were all initially charged with murder, robbery and related offences. McGlone and Canty were found guilty of second-degree murder, robbery and aggravated assault on 30 October, and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Roney was found guilty of first-degree murder, robbery and aggravated assault on 1 November, and sentenced to death.

Roney has maintained his innocence throughout the trial and appeals process, despite the testimony of three witnesses who saw him at the scene of the robbery, as well as a ballistic and forensic evidence and surveillance video that linked him to the murder. His execution has been delayed several times, and he is currently still awaiting an execution date.