Police: Man apologizes for string of 9 robberies around Pittsburgh

A man implicated in a string of nine robberies between Oct. 18 and Nov. 11 in Pittsburgh and surrounding areas told police he was on a downward spiral and was sorry for committing the crimes, according to criminal complaints filed against him.

Sean Randy Beach, 48, told Pittsburgh police he had been working construction and doing well but lost his vehicle, fell into a depression and relapsed.

Beach has a lengthy criminal history of similar crimes dating to 1999, according to online court records.

He was arrested Monday for robbing a Bethel Park CoGo’s and was charged Wednesday by Dormont and Pittsburgh police with the other robberies. During an interview with Pittsburgh detectives, Beach confessed to several robberies and explained what happened, police said.

“Beach said he wanted to be very honest about everything and that he wanted to tell all of the victims that he is very sorry,” Pittsburgh Detective Colleen Brust wrote in the complaint charging Beach in the six robberies in the city.

The spree started Oct. 18 at the Jimmy John’s in Oakland and, according to the criminal complaints, also included robberies on:

• Nov. 4 at the Sincerely Yogurt on the South Side;

• Nov. 8 at a South Side Dairy Queen;

• Nov. 10 at Carson News on the South Side;

• Nov. 11 at Bruegger’s Bagels in Oakland and Donatelli’s Italian Food Market in Bloomfield.

In the Bloomfield robbery, Beach showed the clerk a note written in red ink that said, “Sorry I have to do this. Don’t look at me. The money isn’t yours anyways,” according to the complaints.

On Monday night, Beach was arrested after the robbery of the CoGo’s in Bethel Park.

On Wednesday, he was interviewed by Pittsburgh police and charged with the robberies there.

Dormont police also filed charges against Beach for a Nov. 5 robbery at Exxon and a Nov. 6 robbery at the Hollywood Theater, according to the complaints.

Police used surveillance camera footage and descriptions given by the clerks involved to tie the robberies to Beach, according to the complaints.

Beach’s arrest and the charges Pittsburgh police filed Tuesday against Deven Green, 20, of Crafton Heights, in two other, unrelated robbery cases clear most of the open robbery cases in the region.

Shaler police are still investigating a Sunoco gas station robbery on Nov. 6 that is thought to be unrelated to the other robberies, according to Shaler Deputy Chief Sean Frank.

Tawnya Panizzi and Tom Davidson are Tribune-Review staff writers. You can contact Tawnya at 412-782-2121, ext. 1512, tpanizzi@tribweb.com or via Twitter @tawnyatrib. You can contact Tom at 724-226-4715, tdavidson@tribweb.com or via Twitter @TribDavidson.