UPDATED: Gun Shop Standoff Suspects Placed False Call To 9-1-1, Cops Say

UPDATED: Monday, 6:16 p.m.

The two men charged in the burglary and standoff are James “Unique” Townes, 22,  and Ashire Williams, 21, both of Philadelphia. The two men face nine charges including burglary, receiving stolen property, criminal trespass, resisting arrest and false reports. District Judge Robert Wagner Jr. arraigned both men around 4:30 p.m. Monday and set their bail at 10 percent of $500,000. Townes and Williams both told the judge they were homeless and could not afford the 10 percent of $500,000 bail. Constable Chuck Benhayon assured the two men the Bucks County Correctional facility would have meals and be a warm place to stay.

Police allege Townes and Williams arrived to the Tullytown business early Monday morning in stolen blue Ford Ranger pickup truck. From there, they then entered Mike’s Guns and Sporting Goods through a hole in the roof.

As LevittownNow.com first reported Monday morning, several items believed by investigators to belong to the suspects were found on the roof on the building. One item of note was a sheep’s head that court papers identify was taken from inside the gun shop and moved to the roof.

Williams was found to have three pills that were suspected to Xanax and possible marijuana also in his shoes, court papers say.

One of the suspects said at arraignment that they only broke into the building because they were homeless.

During an interview with Bucks County Detective Jack Slattery and an agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Williams admitted to breaking into the gun shop to steal and said the fake 9-1-1 call was placed because “he did not want to go to jail,” according to court documents.

Police said the two men were walked into court without shoes because they had been confiscated as evidence.

A video posted by Tom Sofield (@tomsofield) on Feb 23, 2015 at 1:58pm PST

Original story: Two men who police say broke into Mike’s Guns and Sporting Goods on Levittown Parkway in Tullytown early Monday morning got desperate as SWAT officers surrounded them. Tullytown police Chief Daniel Doyle said Bucks County 9-1-1 received a report of a body on Lakeside Drive in Levittown while in the midst of the standoff; the call is believed to be a bogus attempt by the two suspects to try to distract police.

“We weren’t buying it,” Doyle said, adding the cellphone’s GPS showed the device was being used from the gun shop. The two suspects, who were not identified by police as of 1:15 p.m., were taken into custody hours after the officers responded to a burglary alarm at the gun shop and spotted a man on the roof. After a perimeter was set up and the man disappeared, SWAT operators were summoned to assist at the scene. Doyle said both suspects were captured in the ventilation system shared by Mike’s Guns and Sporting Goods and the neighboring pizza shop. The first suspect was captured around 8:30 a.m. and the second around 10 a.m., police told reporters. Both men, who allegedly broke into the gun store by making a manhole-sized opening in the roof, shimmied back and forth between the gun and pizza shops through the vents to avoid apprehension. Doyle said police used hooks on poles from local fire companies to take down the drop ceiling and access the suspects.

After hours of waiting outside in the cold and trying unsuccessfully to communicate with the suspects via cellphone and loudspeaker, police crawled from an armored Philadelphia SWAT truck onto the roof. From there, access was made to the interior of the gun shop. Neither of the two suspects had firearms on them when they were caught, but Doyle said the two had full access to merchandise while attempting to burglarize the shop. Further investigation will determine whether either of the suspects tried to steal any firearms. After their arrest, both were taken to the Bristol Township Police Department to be interviewed and booked. The two are expected to be charged in the incident later Monday.

See A Photo Gallery Of The Scene

A police source told LevittownNow.com, items belonging to the suspects were found in the area of the gun shop. As a cold wind swept through the area around daybreak, firefighters, fire police, medics and police all worked the scene and kept bystanders a safe distance away. Media from all of the Philadelphia TV stations staged behind the Walmart, which was emptied due to the police activity.

The Pennsbury School District delayed the start of classes by two hours and a police SUV was stationed outside Walt Disney Elementary School in nearby Falls Township. St. Michael the Archangel School, which is located down the street from the standoff scene, was closed due to the uncertainty of how long police would remain in the area. Doyle said his officers called for assistance from Bristol Township and Falls shortly after realizing the alarm system at the gun shop was going off. The quick action led to police setting up a perimeter and keeping the two suspects contained inside the store. Many roads, including Levittown Parkway, were closed due to the standoff and reopened shortly after the second suspect was taken into custody. Police said they will review security footage to review the actions of the two suspects. Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were called in to assist Tullytown police with their investigation.

Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.