Levittown Trace Hostage Suspects Headed to Trial

All three suspects in the April extortion attempt and kidnapping will be heading to county court in Doylestown to face trial following their preliminary hearings Wednesday before District Judge Joanne V. Kline in Bristol Township.

Orlando McNeil, 38, of Bristol Township, Daesean Smith, 21, and Dennis Redding, 18, both of Philadelphia are currently facing seven counts of kidnapping and false imprisonment; charges of robbery, burglary and multiple counts of criminal conspiracy were also added to the list of offenses on Wednesday. Redding and Smith both also face a charge of possessing an instrument of crime, and Smith also had a persons not to possess, use, manufacture, control, sell or transfer firearms count tacked on.

A Bristol Township man testified at the preliminary hearing for the suspects that the three men were part of the plot that kept four adults and three young children – ages 1, 2 and 4 – held hostage inside an apartment in the Levittown Trace complex for several hours.

The incident happened after the group of suspects planned to rob the man, who had lent McNeil $1,200 following a death of a close relative or friend, near the Glen Hollow Apartments, but the man did not show up and sent a woman instead. The suspects tried to lure the man to the apartment complex by saying they would pay him back $1,500.

McNeil told police robbery was the motive, a police detective later testified.

The man said the woman who lived in the apartment with her children was coming in from taking her small dog out for a walk when he heard the voices of two men – Smith and Redding – entering the apartment. Shortly after, he said, the men displayed guns and were ordering the adults to strip down to their undergarments and lay on the floor. All cell phones were taken, police said previously.

Smith and Redding said they wanted the man to give them $80,000. The man testified that it was known on the street that he had procured a large sum of money following the death of his mother.

During the several-hour ordeal, which only left the victims with duct tape covering their mouths for less than a minute, the hostage takers let the adults and children watch movies until the PNC Bank at Commerce Park in Bristol opened in the morning and money could be withdrawn.

Throughout the hours, the two suspects said if the man did anything “stupid” everyone would get killed. Both Smith and Redding were armed with guns, the man said.

“The little kids, seeing guns, they were scared,” the man said before the court.

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Once the bank had opened, the hostage takers let the man and his girlfriend go to the bank. They instructed the girlfriend to watch the man and said they had someone – later identified as McNeil – watching the bank, the man testified. A cell phone was provided to the woman and she talked to the suspects during the transactions.

The man said he devised a plan and alerted authorities at the bank as to what was happening and they called 911. He took out $1,500 instead of $80,000, but had his girlfriend tell the suspects he had all the money.

Outside the bank, he said spotted he McNeil and his black SUV driving past.

Smith’s attorney, Harry Cooper, asked the man if he was worried that the armed men would act on their threats if he did not follow their instructions. The man answered that he had a “plan in motion” and that “you’ve gotta take chances if you want things to change.”

The man said he made a stop to deactivate his cell phone before returning to Levittown Trace, leaving his girlfriend at the bank to get a ride from McNeil. He said he returned to the apartment complex to find a large police presence. At that point, according to the man, a police officer said all the hostages were safe and suspects were in custody.

Detective Michael Slaughter said that McNeil “manned up” and confessed details of the crime that only someone involved would have known when he was interviewed by police. He said McNeil said he knew the male victim to be a drug “hustler” and have money.

McNeil picked up the man’s girlfriend near the bank when she approached him and he drove her right up to where police were at the C building of Levittown Trace and let her go. He then drove to a nearby wooded area and was arrested when he tried to pick-up Smith and Redding, who both ran from police, Slaughter testified.

McNeil has a criminal history in Bucks County and Smith was convicted of a felony in Philadelphia in 2009, officials said.

All three suspects remain in jail and have been unable to post the 10 percent of $1 million bail that was set.

Related:

• Cops Arrest Third Suspect in Levittown Trace Kidnapping Plot
• 2 Suspects Captured in Kidnap for Ransom Plot