Rillton-Herminie robbery, kidnap suspect charged; 2nd man sought

State police used DNA evidence to arrest a North Huntingdon man Thursday in connection with what investigators described as a kidnapping and brutal beating in 2020.

Trooper Steve Limani said Danny Joe Lambert, 59, and a second man were involved in the Sept. 25, 2020 incident in the Sewickley Township villages of Herminie and Rillton. Police have not been able to figure out the identity of the second suspect.

The man who reported being attacked had several broken ribs and underwent surgery to repair tissue damage to his left arm.

“There was two people involved in this incident not just one,” Limani said. “There’s two people that need to be held accountable.”

The man told state police that he was walking outside the Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Rillton about 8:30 p.m. when an SUV stopped and he was grabbed by two men wearing masks, according to court papers. They demanded a card related to a pandemic unemployment assistance claim, but the man didn’t have one, police said.

He was driven to an abandoned house about 2 miles away in Herminie and taken to the basement where authorities said he was beaten, hogtied with extension cords and threatened to be buried alive in a coal cellar and have his fingers cut off with an axe, according to court papers.

“While he was in the basement, he was able to identify one of the individuals’ voices and call that person by name,” Limani said.

That person was Lambert, according to police. Limani said they happened to know each other but authorities don’t believe the man was targeted.

“After several hours of threatening and beating (him), they decided to let him go, which, the way it was going you would think (he) was going to die in that basement,” Limani said.

The man fled and got a ride home. When troopers searched the Herminie home, they found cigarette butts, extension cords and other evidence that matched DNA belonging to the man and Lambert, Limani said.

“The way that this incident was described by the victim and the severity of it and the fact that he had such profound injuries …. sounds horrific and from the 25 years I’ve had doing this, I personally think he’s lucky he made it out of there alive,” he said.

Results on the DNA evidence came back in May 2022, but police said they weren’t concerned Lambert would be a danger to anyone else because he is contending with serious health issues, Limani said. Lambert is free on $50,000 unsecured bail.

He is charged with robbery, kidnapping and related offenses. A preliminary hearing is set for March 4. He did not have an attorney listed in online court records and could not be reached.

Lambert has not been cooperative with investigators, Limani said, and police are still trying to figure out the identity of the second suspect. Anyone with information is asked to call state police at 724-832-3288.

“There might be some other DNA evidence that we have that we can link up to another human being,” he said.