Bradford-Online – Bradford PA's Original Website

On Christmas Eve, 2007 the Crosby Mini Mart in Lewis Run was robbed by a man brandishing a knife. The on-duty clerk and assistant manager were told to empty the cash registers. They were then forced into the back office, and the robber fled.

Police arrested Dennis Fuino of Bradford later that day and charged him with the crime. His truck matched the description from the scene of the robbery. He has a past criminal record. The robber was described as wearing a black leather coat over a dark blue hoodie, with the hood pulled up. Fuino was found with a black leather jacket and empty knife sheath on his front seat. Other evidence was discovered that seemed to point to Fuino. Two witnesses identified him in a line-up.

Fuino and his family contend that he is innocent and discrepancies in the evidence point to his innocence. Several family members swear he was with them, helping his mother move, around the time the robbery was reported. Two of the eye-witnesses described the robber as having gray hair, a scraggly beard or facial hair, marks on his nose from wearing glasses, and light colored eyes. One witness said his face was scarred from acne. Fuino has brown hair, green eyes, and is clean shaven. He has no acne scars. The security camera at the store was no help in identifying the thief, but it clearly showed him placing his open hand on the glass door on his way out. The PA State Police dusted the door and counter area, but did not find a match to Fuino’s fingerprints. Since his incarceration, the same store has been robbed three times.

A confidential informant gave a statement to police. A judge later ruled the informant’s information could not be used in the trial.

A member of Fuino’s family provided Bradford-Online.com with a letter he wrote to the Bradford Era, which they declined to publish. The family also provided copies of related police reports. We have redacted the names of the witnesses and investigators.

Link removed: see update

We have no opinion as to Fuino’s guilt or innocence. At the same time, we see no harm in making the information we were given open to the public. The reader may draw their own conclusions.

According to the family, Mr. Fuino has been in the McKean County Jail since his arrest, and could be sentenced to anywhere from 10 to 75 years.

Update September 19, 2008

We have removed the downloadable documents. We intended to redact names of witnesses, etc. A flaw in the way we did it makes some of that information available. We apologize for the inconvenience.

We are informed that Mr. Fuino has agreed to a plea deal, which will avoid a trial. He said he felt the plea was preferable to the sentence he could have received.