ALLEGHENY TWP — An accused armed robber is in the Butler County Prison today after he was arrested Sunday for taking money from a township business.

Jeffrey Todd Kline, 40, of Brookville, Jefferson County, allegedly confessed that he stuck up an employee at a strip club in this northern Butler County township early Sunday morning because he was having financial difficulties, state police said.

He fired a shotgun near the worker before making off with $460, according to court documents.

But Kline's getaway was short lived. By that evening, the suspect was arrested and jailed on $750,000 bail.

Police were called to the Interstate Body Shop on Route 38 after a man clad in camouflage and carrying a gun entered the business about 3 a.m.

The man, toting the camo-painted shotgun, approached employee Stacy Wolfgang and demanded money, police said.

The man fired a shot into the wall behind Wolfgang before grabbing money from the register and running away. Wolfgang was not hurt.

Investigators learned a man matching the robber's description had been seen at a nearby convenience store shortly after the holdup, police said. A quick-thinking store clerk wrote down the license plate of the suspect's van before he drove away.

Police ran the plate, which showed it belonged to Kline, and they reviewed video from the store's surveillance system. Investigators went to Kline's home and found him there.

Investigators got a search warrant for Kline's house, and turned up more than $400 hidden in the basement, documents said. Police also found a camo-painted, 12-gauge Mossberg shotgun in a wooded area where Kline said he stashed it.

District Judge Lewis Stoughton at 5:30 p.m. Sunday arraigned Kline on charges of robbery, terroristic threats, theft, receiving stolen property, reckless endangerment and simple assault.

At his arraignment, Kline told Stoughton that he is unemployed. He said he was laid off in spring from a four-year job at Trail King Industries.