McDaniel

Police arrested a 20-year-old Spring Grove woman and her 19-year-old alleged male accomplice Monday for the March armed robbery of Papertown Dairy Bar, where the woman used to work.

Megan Alexis McDaniel of the 100 block of South East Street and alleged accomplice Shane Michael Schanfelter of 7092 Hershey Road in North Codorus Township are each charged with robbery, theft and receiving stolen property and with related crimes in connection with the robbery.

McDaniel remains in York County Prison in lieu of $500,000 bail and Schanfelter is there on $250,000 bail, according to prison officials.

Both were arrested at their respective homes about 8:30 a.m. after an "extensive and time-intensive investigation" that lasted just over

Schanfelter

Online court documents did not list attorneys for McDaniel or Schanfelter.

Robbery: McDaniel and Schanfelter allegedly robbed the diary bar, located at 267 N. Main St., at gunpoint on March 3.

McDaniel is a former employee of the dairy bar, and her sister was working there at the time of the robbery, according to Schanfelter's charging documents.

Three employees were closing the eatery for the evening when two people wearing ski masks - alleged to be McDaniel and Schanfelter - entered through the rear side entrance a little before 10 p.m., police said.

One of the robbers was holding a pump-action shotgun and put it to a restaurant manger's head and cocked it while demanding money, the documents state.

The manger retrieved cash from a cabinet and handed it over the gunman as the other robber, who didn't speak, stood by a door. The robbers made off with approximately $1,600.

The robbers "displayed knowledge" of the dairy bar's operations, such as where the money was kept and its hours of operation, documents state.

The employees initially described the robbers as both being male but through the investigation, police determined one was a woman.

Investigation: At the start of the investigation, during which police spoke with about 20 people about the robbery, police had little to go on, Bean said.

"Our task was connecting all the dots," he said.

A day after the robbery, police interviewed McDaniel about it, but she denied any involvement, documents state.

A witness told police McDaniel, who has a history of drug violations and is known to have used illegal drugs and was in need of money, repeatedly asked him to take part in the robbery, documents state.

"It appears the motive behind it (the robbery) was illegal drug use," Bean said. "You can take some very good people, and drugs create someone very bad."

The same witness also told police that McDaniel admitted to him that she and Schanfelter committed the robbery and that her sister was working at the dairy bar at the time, documents state.

Bean credited the work of Detective Sgt. Lisa Layden, the lead investigator, with McDaniel's and Schanfelter's arrests.

The traumatic experience the three employees faced served as motivation for officers to solve the case.

"The trauma they went through isn't going to go away anytime soon" but hopefully these arrests help, Bean said.

- Reach Greg Gross at 505-5434, ggross@yorkdispatch.com, or follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/greggrss.