Parents Turned In Alleged Gas Station Robber

The man charged with Sunday’s was captured with the help of his parents, who saw their son’s surveillance photo on social media websites, court records say.

Other new information in the case – contained in a criminal complaint – includes:

• The suspect, Andrew Bilheimer, 24, got away with about $1,000 in cash that a cashier at the , 2350 Linden St., gave him from the register.
• Bilheimer used a semiautomatic handgun in the robbery.
• The suspect apparently was being investigated in connection with an Aug. 1 burglary. Another Bethlehem officer told fellow investigators a 1991 teal/green Volvo was seen driving away from the Aug. 1 scene. The car was registered to Bilheimer. Surveillance video from Sunday’s robbery showed “an older green/teal-colored four-door sedan” pull up and a man later identified as Bilheimer get out. The complaint contained no further details on the Aug. 1 incident.
• Bilheimer’s bail was set at $250,000. He was committed to Northampton County Prison.

The suspect was picked up in Allentown around 3:30pm Monday – a little more than 24 hours after the gas station robbery at 1:53pm Sunday. at the Redner’s Market parking lot on Airport Road.

A criminal complaint filed by Det. Sgt. Van A. Scott Sr. provides the following details:

• Scott said that on Monday, he spoke to Laura Bilheimer, Andrew’s mother. She told him the surveillance photo of the suspected robber on social media sites was her son. The complaint does not say if the mother called police or police called her.
• But it does specify that Robert Bilheimer, Andrew’s father, contacted Scott on Monday and told him what Bilheimer’s wife had said – the surveillance photo on the websites was his son.
• Also confirming Andrew Bilheimer’s identity from the surveillance photo was city Det. Robert Toronzi, who said he had prior contact with Andrew. Court records show he was the arresting officer in a June 2011 incident involving Bilheimer.
• Bilheimer’s car registration lists an address of 3283 Beaufort Drive, a short distance north of the Express gas station, which is at the diagonal intersection of Linden and Jennings streets. The complaint lists Bilheimer’s current address as “unknown.”
• The Express cashier told Scott he saw a man enter the store and then point a semiautomatic handgun at him. The man was holding a “purplish T-shirt” over his nose and mouth in one hand and pointing the gun in the other hand. The gunman approached the cashier and said “Give me the money.”
• The cashier said he was in fear for his life, so he handed over about $1,000 from the cash register. The gunman then left.
• Scott later reviewed store surveillance video, which generally confirms what the cashier told him. It shows the cashier handing over a “large amount” of cash and the gunman, later identified as Bilheimer, “grabbing” the money and leaving.
• Scott said Deputy Chief Craig Finnerty placed the video and still photos on the city’s social media websites.

Bilheimer was charged with robbery, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person. He was arraigned Monday by on-duty District Judge Jackie Taschner of Palmer Township.

Court records show Bilheimer was involved in two previous cases: He pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property in a June 2011 incident in the city of Bethlehem (Toronzi is listed as the arresting officer), and he pleaded guilty to theft by unlawful taking and criminal mischief in a July 2011 incident in Bethlehem Township.