A resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty on March 18, 2025, to a charge of bank robbery.
Mark Laughner, 38, pleaded guilty to count one of the indictments before United States District Judge Cathy Bissoon.
In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised that, on May 16, 2024, Laughner entered a Reserve Township bank wearing a baseball cap and neck gaiter covering his mouth and nose and instructed the teller to give him all her large bills.
After the teller handed over the $100 and $50 bills from her cash drawer, the defendant demanded that the teller provide more cash quickly, or he would shoot her in the face.
Laughner left the bank with $1,370 in U.S. currency and was ultimately identified through the utilization of surveillance recordings as well as witness interviews.
Allegheny County Police Department (ACPD) detectives obtained a warrant for Laughner’s arrest and, on May 20, 2024, attempted to apprehend the defendant when detectives observed Laughner in the passenger seat of a vehicle outside of a Pittsburgh fire station.
As detectives converged on the vehicle with their emergency lights activated, the driver exited the vehicle, and Laughner jumped from the passenger side of the vehicle into the driver’s seat, where he began fleeing detectives by driving in reverse at high speed.
Ignoring multiple verbal commands to stop, Laughner came within inches of striking two ACPD detectives before stopping and exiting the vehicle in the middle of the street and fleeing on foot.
Using a police K-9 unit, law enforcement apprehended Laughner after finding him hiding in a thick brush.
Judge Bissoon scheduled sentencing for July 22, 2025. The law provides for a maximum total sentence of up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both.
