Man turns himself into State College police for alleged robbery

The search for an armed robbery suspect ended Saturday when the alleged individual turned himself into State College police.

According to court documents, Bilal McGruder, 21, of Philadelphia, was taken into custody and charged with several felony counts of robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery as well as misdemeanor charges of simple assault, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, recklessly endangering another person and disorderly conduct.

Police began investigating reports of an armed robbery on Sept. 5 after two Penn State students reported they had been robbed at gunpoint along East Beaver Avenue. A “college-aged black male” had stopped them and demanded they empty their pockets while displaying a “semi-automatic handgun,” police said.

After taking their property, they were ordered to walk away, and ran off when they heard a gunshot.

An individual related to the investigation, Toure Williams, 20, of Rydal, was taken into custody on Friday and charged with criminal conspiracy to commit robbery.

According to the criminal complaint filed by State College police, surveillance camera footage revealed a white sedan believed to have been involved in the crime. The robbery suspect, identified by the clothes described by the students, was seen on borough cameras entering the vehicle shortly after the crime.

Williams was identified as the owner of the vehicle through his car’s license plate, police said. The car was later discovered parked along Vairo Boulevard, where Williams was listed as a lessee in the adjacent building.

During an interview, Williams allegedly stated that he met a black male on the evening of Sept. 5 identified as “Lyle,” police said. While driving down East Beaver, “Lyle” pointed out two people walking on the sidewalk and allegedly told Williams to pull over so he could “hit a lick” — either sell them drugs or rob them.

Williams allegedly stated he dropped “Lyle” off and a short time later heard a boom, police said. After picking him up, Williams allegedly saw “Lyle” going through a wallet and saw him put a black handgun in the glove box.

The next day, Williams said he received a text from “Lyle” regarding the robbery in the newspaper, police said. A search of Williams’ phone revealed texts and a phone number believed to belong to the suspect.

The phone number was associated with McGruder, police said. Social media posts of McGruder allegedly matched the surveillance images collected during the investigation.

After turning himself in, McGruder was arraigned before District Judge Carmine Prestia, court documents said, who set bail at $250,000. He remains incarcerated in the Centre County Correctional Facility.

A preliminary hearing is set for Sept. 21.

This story was originally published September 12, 2016 at 11:41 AM with the headline "Man turns himself into State College police for alleged robbery."