2 men charged with staging reality TV robbery
Randall Smith, Artie Goodwine charged in Indiana, Pa.
You got robbed:' Reality TV robbery staged outside pizzeria
INDIANA, Pa. - Two men are charged with robbing pizzeria employees by claiming they were recording a video for a reality TV show called "You Just Got Robbed" early Monday morning.
The suspects were identified as Randall Smith, 21, of Templehill, Md., and Artie Goodwine, 18, of Memphis, Tenn., both of whom attend the nearby WyoTech school. Police said a third person was with the two men.
"There were three guys standing there, and they decided it was going to be a good time to rob us because it was just us two," Austin Harnish said. "The guys put us in headlocks and said we were going be on a reality TV show. The other guy started filming it on his cellphone."
It happened at about 1:20 a.m. outside Fox's Pizza Den at Philadelphia and South Sixth streets, where Harnish and the other victim just ended a work shift.
"The guy that was filming came up to me and grabbed me by the throat," Harnish said. "I was like, 'Yep, there's my wallet, you can have whatever's in there' -- 20 bucks."
He told Channel 4 Action News reporter Ashlie Hardway that he thought it was a joke at first, but he's glad police responded so quickly.
Plainclothes officers saw the suspects get kicked out of a nearby bar a few minutes earlier and had kept an eye on them, so the officers ran to the scene when the victims yelled for help.
Smith posted bail, but Goodwine remained in the Indiana County Jail on Monday morning. Police said they did not charge the person who was with them because he did not take part in the robbery.
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