Fifteen dollars changed the lives of two men from different worlds. Former Springdale High School student Marty Armstrong, 18, who had bounced between homeless shelters and youth homes after being kicked out by his mother and suspended from Peabody High School, needed money for a trip to Chicago before leaving for the Army, his cousin said Tuesday. Michael Lahoff, 50, a Mt. Lebanon copier repairman working in downtown Pittsburgh, willingly handed over his wallet to Armstrong beforethe younger man fired the gun he stole from his Army recruiter, Pittsburgh police said. The bullet severed the Boy Scout leader's spine on Friday during the robbery in the Smithfield-Liberty parking garage. "The gun went off on accident," Armstrong told reporters Monday night as police led him to jail. "I did not mean to hurt that man." Police say the shooting on the seventh floor of the garage -- which left Lahoff paralyzed from the neck down -- was just another step onthe destructive path taken by a troubled young man with a history of mental illness. Armstrong was arraigned Tuesday morning on charges connected to Lahoff's shooting and an unrelated fight at Peabody High Schoolin December, in which police said he pushed a school security officer. Armstrong was jailed in lieu of $606,000 bond as he awaits a Jan.16 hearing on charges of aggravated assault, robbery and carrying a gun without a license. "The family is very relieved that this man was apprehended before he hurt anyone else," said Bill Boyle, of Mt. Lebanon, a fellowScoutmaster who is acting as a spokesman for the Lahoff family. "They want to express their gratitude for the expert police action andcommunity support." Police said they are still trying to identify a woman who was seen with Lahoff's assailant. Lahoff, meanwhile, remains in critical conditionat Mercy Hospital. Three days after finding Lahoff bleeding on the garage floor beside his company car, police had few clues to who shot the popularfather of two. Lahoff was on a call for Murrysville-based RTR Business Products, where he has worked since 1996, according to hisboss, Mark Korbar. A tip from an unidentified security guard at a Downtown business -- who told police he had seen a man wearing a black-and-orangeSpringdale High School jacket walk out of the garage Friday morning -- led city homicide detectives George Trosky and JamesMcGee to Armstrong on Monday night, police said. During an interview with the detectives, Armstrong admitted shooting Lahoff with a stolen gun after taking his wallet, according to anaffidavit of probable cause filed to support the charges. Police found the wallet in a trash bin outside the garage, where Armstrong said he dumped it after taking the $15 inside. They also havethe gun, a chrome Taurus 9 mm, that detectives said Armstrong stole from his Army recruiter. Police declined to identify the recruiter. Armstrong, who was suspended from Peabody after the December fight, had planned to leave for Chicago on Tuesday to visit family,police and a relative said. From there, he was to ship out to basic training at Fort Benning, Ga., on July 7, according to Janet Heyl, aspokeswoman for the Army recruiting battalion in Pittsburgh. Instead, police picked him up late Monday at the Beechview home of his cousin, Rhonda White. "I don't know how this happened, but I believe him when he says he didn't mean to hurt the man," said White, 29. "I feel sorry for the man,but I just never thought Marty would do something like this." His father, Marty A. Armstrong Sr., said his son has mental problems and was on medication. "I feel sorry for my son, and my heart goes out to the victim," the father said from his home near Nashville, Tenn., where he lives withMarty Armstrong's younger brother, Aaron. "Marty was raised better than that," he said. "He knows right from wrong. I'm extremely disappointed if my son did this." Armstrong's run-ins with the law date to 1997, when police in Bloomington, Ill., charged him with aggravated criminal sexual assault. Thedetails of that case are sealed because Armstrong was only 13 at the time. The charge was dismissed in 2001. By that time, Armstrongwas living in Springdale with his mother. In 2001, Springdale Borough police twice charged Armstrong with disorderly conduct. Details were unavailable Tuesday. Also in 2001, Marty Armstrong was involuntarily committed for psychiatric evaluation at Allegheny Valley Hospital in Harrison afterthreatening to hurt himself with a knife, Springdale Police Chief Joseph Naviglia said. In September 2001, he was kicked off the Springdale High School football team. Around the same time, he and his brother Aaron -- who are black -- were the targets of racist graffiti at the school. Football coach Chuck Wagner said Tuesday that Marty Armstrong's dismissal from the team didn't involve the racial threats nor did itinvolve academic eligibility. Wagner said he "tried very hard to work with Marty," but "things didn't work out. "We go to the 'nth degree' for my players, but ultimatelysometimes you have to draw the line." Armstrong's mother, Scythelle McCorkle of Springdale, said she "loves my son today and tomorrow." She criticized the Valley NewsDispatch for "having to be told" about the racial threats, but refused other comment about her son's arrest. Armstrong moved in with a relative in Highland Park and enrolled in Peabody High School last September. On Dec. 18, Armstrong got into a fight at Peabody with a female student. Security officers said they tried to break up the fight, andArmstrong shoved officer Margaret Frye, knocking her back about 10 feet, according to an affidavit. School police applied for an arrest warrant. It was granted Friday, the day of the shooting. That morning, Armstrong went to Peabody --possibly with the gun he had stolen from the recruiter -- but was turned away by school security, police said. He then boarded a bus to Downtown, where police said Armstrong found a target for his plot to score quick cash. Lahoff's shooting shocked many in the Scouting community, in which he has been active for 30 years. Lahoff, an assistant Scoutmasterin Mt. Lebanon, is on the training staff and runs the swimming advancement program for the Conestoga District, according to senior BoyScouts district executive Christopher Handa. Lahoff also serves on the Catholic committee for Scouting and teaches religious instruction classes at a Mt. Lebanon church. Handa, Lahoff's boss at RTR, and family friend Boyle said they have received calls from RTR customers, fellow scouters and churchmembers about how they can help Lahoff's family. An annual prayer service coordinated two Mt. Lebanon churches, Sunset Hills Church and St. Winifred, scheduled for Jan. 15 will bededicated to Lahoff, Boyle said. Proceeds raised at the service will be donated to the Lahoff family. Staff writer Chuck Biedka can be reached at cbiedka@tribweb.com . David Conti is a staff writer with the PittsburghTribune-Review. Trib staffers David Brown and Ellen James contributed to this report.

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