Man Charged With Robbing McCandless Bank Waives Preliminary Hearing

Ronald Nelson—who has confessed to robbing banks to pay off drug dealers—waived his preliminary hearing Wednesday on the charge of according to court documents.

The 49-year-old Pittsburgh man, who appeared before Magisterial District Judge William K. Wagner, is charged with robbing the bank at 1701 Duncan Ave. on the morning of Oct. 4.

Nelson also is charged with robbing the Fifth Third Bank in the East Liberty area of Pittsburgh twice—in August and again on Oct. 15, according to the criminal complaint.

In the McCandless case, Nelson gave a note to a teller that stated, “Give me the money, I have a gun”, the criminal complaint states.

He then said loudly “Don’t move, don’t move” to others in the bank, court documents state. 

Nelson ordered the teller to give him money, which she did, according to the complaint.

Nelson left the bank, fled down a hillside to Ringeisen Road, got into a small red car driven by an unidentified person and headed toward Sample Road, court documents state.

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Police used video surveillance from the banks to identify Nelson, but the way he wrote “I” in the three holdup notes also helped in their investigation, the criminal complaint states.

The “I” was written in a distinctive, ornate fashion, according to the criminal complaint.

Pittsburgh police arrested Nelson on Oct. 17 in his East Liberty neighborhood, the complaint states.