Police seek Renovo October Bank Robber
Search on for Josh Winkleman
RENOVO—Authorities today made a dawn raid at a 5th St. home in Renovo, looking for a borough man wanted in last October’s armed robbery of the Santander bank on Erie Avenue.
Police are attempting to track down Josh Winkleman, 25, of 164 5th St. The State Police “Tactical Response Unit” broke in the front door at the Winkleman residence at 6 a.m. but Winkleman and female companion Toni Sporney were not there. Police were told Sporney was seen packing her bags and departing the home last night; she is sought on a charge of selling crack-cocaine.
The police action was again led by Cpl. Brad Eisenhower from the state police Vice/Narcotics unit out of Montoursville. This time he was accompanied by several local state troopers plus a dozen camouflaged members of state law enforcement’s special emergency response team covering eastern Pennsylvania. But when they entered the Winkleman residence there was no one inside.
The authorities were seeking to serve arrest warrants on Spornie on the drug trafficking charges and Winkleman on the robbery dating to Oct. 29 of last year.
Renovo borough officer-in-charge Mike Jeffries was part of this morning’s police action. He told therecord-online charges against Winkleman resulted from a DNA test allegedly linking Winkleman to the robbery. Jeffries had chased after the alleged bank robber after that late morning robbery and recovered an abandoned motorbike and sunglasses. A DNA sample was taken from that evidence, Jeffries said, and in March of this year he used a search warrant to use a swab to get a DNA sample from Winkleman. Based on those results, the Renovo officer said, a warrant for Winkleman’s arrest was obtained last week.
That robbery saw a male enter the Erie Avenue bank and, brandishing a cocked handgun, demanded money. Authorities said he made off with $1,305, ran across Erie Avenue to the old railroad yards and sped away on a dirt bike.
Today police action follows a widespread sweep last Friday, part of what Eisenhower called “Operation Reclaim Renovo.” He called the borough a “cesspool of cocaine.”
