Suspect identified with help of DNA pleads guilty in Lower Burrell robbery

An Allegheny County man was ordered to serve up to five years in prison for the armed robbery of a beer distributor in Lower Burrell.

Blair Adam Payne, 29, of Mt. Oliver pleaded guilty to robbery, theft and receiving stolen property in connection with a heist police said was solved with the help of DNA evidence left on a telephone stolen from a store clerk.

According to court records, Payne and another masked man held a clerk at Hillcrest Beer Distributing at gunpoint on Oct. 6, 2020, and took money from the cash register and the store employee’s wallet and his cellphone before driving off.

Police said surveillance video led investigators to find the getaway vehicle and ultimately to identify Leo Vance Phillips as a suspect and the gun authorities claimed was used in the robbery.

Police said Phillips claimed to have purchased the gun from Payne, who was determined to have owned the weapon.

Payne was located at a home in New Kensington, where the employee’s stolen cellphone was found, police said. According to court records, Payne’s DNA was found on the phone.

As part of Friday’s guilty plea, prosecutors dismissed conspiracy and gun charges against Payne.

He was sentenced by Westmoreland County Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio to serve 2 1/2 to five years in prison.

Phillips, 39, of Brackenridge is free on $10,000 bond as he awaits trial on six counts, including robbery and conspiracy. He is scheduled for a pretrial hearing challenging the evidence against him in August.