Hempfield robbery suspect details alibi, denounces confession in 3rd day of trial

A Scottdale man and his wife told a Westmoreland County jury they were at home and were visited by police at the same time a Blairsville woman claimed he robbed her at gunpoint at a Hempfield shopping center in late 2016.

Norman Jack, 30, testified Wednesday in the third day of his robbery trial that he was not at the Greengate East Plaza on Nov. 30, 2016, when police say he pointed a gun at the woman and stole her purse .

Jack said he confessed to the crime three days later to spare his wife from being arrested for a firearms offense.

“I was willing to say anything to protect my wife,” Jack said.

He is charged with robbery, theft, simple assault, terroristic threats and a firearms offense.

According to prosecutors, Jack confessed to the crimes following a traffic stop near New Stanton on Dec. 2, 2016, after police found a gun hidden in his wife’s bra.

The prosecution rested its case earlier Wednesday when state police Tpr. Joseph Lauricia testified that Jack admitted to the robbery.

Police had earlier identified Jack as a suspect after tracing a call they say he made from the woman’s cellphone just before he threatened her at gunpoint and ordered her to give him her purse.

The woman, 56-year-old Sophia King of Blairsville, claimed Jack then sped off after crashing into the rear of her car.

Lauricia testified Jack admitted he left his home on the morning of Nov. 30 after an argument with his wife, drove to the Greensburg area where he asked a woman parked at the shopping center to use her cell phone. The trooper said Jack later admitted that he pointed a gun at the woman and demanded her purse.

“He said he threw the purse out the window because he felt guilty,” Lauricia testified.

Defense attorney Tim Dawson suggested Jack, who is Black, was identified as the robber solely because of his race. His accuser is white and was not asked to identify her attacker until a preliminary hearing three years ago. Jack was the only Black person in the courtroom that day, Dawson said.

Jack told jurors he grew up in Mississippi and came to distrust police after his mother was shot and killed by authorities when he was 15 years old.

He said that distrust grew over the years and ultimately led to his decision to confess to a crime he didn’t commit.

Jack testified that he only admitted to the robbery to avoid a violent confrontation with police after watching troopers handcuff his wife and pull a small gun that was hidden in her bra. He said he feared he would be shot by police, and his wife claimed she was “manhandled” during what they said was a two-hour encounter.

“I told them I would cooperate as long as they let my wife go,” Jack testified.

Police officers testified to a different version of the arrest and confession, saying Jack was cooperative and voluntarily admitted to the robbery.

Lauricia told jurors Jack’s wife was not handcuffed nor assaulted and was only carefully searched after they observed “a bulge” under her shirt that resulted in the discovery of a gun.

Both Jack and his wife testified police came to the front door of their Scottdale-area home at nearly the same time the robbery was to have occurred and questioned them about an unrelated matter.

Tpr. Anthony Arbaczewski, a prosecution rebuttal witness, confirmed police visited Jack’s home on Nov. 30, but that it was between 12:30 and 1 p.m. Prosecutors claim the robbery occurred shortly before 10 a.m.

Jurors are expected to hear closing arguments Thursday.