Woman Robs Four Stores, Needed Money for Pet Supplies

A Pittsburgh woman jailed in four recent store robberies told police she needed money for dog food and kitty litter.

Police say 28-year-old Melissa Santoro wasn't especially successful, netting less than $300 in the heists.

Police say a clerk at a Sunoco gas station robbed last month and again Tuesday night recognized Santoro when she came in to buy cigarettes. Police say she denied robbing the station, as well as a Rite Aid last month, also in the city, as well as Jet's Pizza in neighboring Dormont, also on Tuesday night.

But police say after taking a lie detector test, Santoro confessed to all four robberies.

She told them a gun she carried was just plastic, and that she needed money for her pets and to help her mother.

She was jailed Friday and didn't have an attorney.