Robber makes off with perogi money
LYNDORA — A masked man walked into a church hall perogi sale Friday afternoon and announced: "Hello ladies. This is a robbery."
"I thought he was joking," said Maureen Winkler, 61, a regular volunteer at SS. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church's biweekly sale. "I got up to serve him."
Instead of buying a dozen or two homemade perogis, the masked robber reached into the aged, wooden cash register, emptied it of cash, and fled.
A female church member took off after the robber. She chased the robber out the hall door, onto Arbor Drive and through an alley to Peterson Street, where he got into a waiting black sports car.
No one could say for sure how much money the robber stole. He was covered with clothing — including a hooded sweatshirt and a mask — head-to-toe.
Every other week, the ladies of the church transform 200 to 300 pounds of potatoes into perogis they call "pirohi." They usually sell out at $6 a dozen.
The sale is between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Fridays and almost always staffed by a handful of ladies.
Proceeds pay the church's bills.
The robber came about 3:30 p.m., when most perogi already were smothered in butter and onions and prepackaged for sale or preordered pick-up.
Butler Township Police are leading the investigation.
After the robbery, the church volunteers, still wearing their aprons, said they see the one church member as a hero for trying to save the money.
"She's a hero," one lady said. "The 'pirohi' hero."
