Credit: Bristol Township Police
Two people required medical treatment after they were pistol whipped during an armed home invasion robbery in the 5700 block of Mitchell Road in Bristol Township’s Bloomsdale-Fleetwing section.
Rasheem Wilford, 19, of Marie Lowe Drive in Bristol Township; Kenneth Moore, 24, of Fleetwing Drive in Bristol Township; Taariq Norris, 18, also of Fleetwing Drive in Bristol Township and a 17-year-old Bristol Borough boy were arrested and charged in the armed home invasion that happened just before 8 p.m. Wednesday night. For those without knowledge of the neighborhood, Fleetwing Drive intersects Mitchell Road, which means two of the suspects lived within walking distance of the victims’ home.
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According to police, officers were called to the Mitchell Road home after receiving reports of the home invasion.
When police arrived, according to court documents, the victims told them $2,300 in cash and a recently purchased cell phone worth $300 was stolen. The two victims, who were whipped with a handgun, also gave police suspect descriptions and patrol units began searching for the men, authorities said.
Lt. Guy Sava said the victims, a man and woman, were treated and released.
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As police were at the crime scene, they received information that an employee at the At&t store in the Oxford Valley Mall in Middletown had called 9-1-1 to report that two men were trying to resell the phone reported stolen. The clerk knew the phone was stolen because he had recently sold it to the victim, police said. The attempt to sell the phone was unsuccessful.
Police found out that four men traveled to the mall in a maroon 1997 Chevrolet Malibu.
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Officers began looking for the four suspects, who had split up, at about 8:25 p.m. Two suspects were captured inside the GameStop store in the mall and the other two were found on mall property.
According to court documents, each of the men had neatly folded wads of cash in their possession. Police said each man had over $400 with them, one even had the cell phone reported stolen in the home invasion. Officers found a key belonging to the Malibu on suspect Moore.
The minor suspect said he entered the home in a ruse to “buy weed.” Wilford and Norris barged into the home with handguns covered by socks. The minor added that Moore split the money evenly four ways between the suspects and drove to a nearby gas station in the Malibu, police said.
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Moore told police the suspects drove to the Oxford Valley Mall so one of the men could sell a phone at the At&t store.
Police reviewed footage from the pole cameras that dot the Fleetwood-Bloomsdale section and saw the Malibu on Mitchell Road just before and after the armed home invasion. Police said the victims reported spotting a similar vehicle leaving the scene
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. The Malibu is registered to the same address that court records list as Moore’s home, according to police.
A source with knowledge of the investigation told LevittownNow.com that police reviewed surveillance video from the mall to identify the two suspects.
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As police transported one of the suspects from the mall to Bristol Township police headquarters, he threw a wad of cash out of the police car window and onto East Lincoln Highway, court papers says.
The Malibu was secured by officers from Middletown and Falls before being towed to the Bristol Township police station.
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The three adult suspects were arraigned by Bensalem District Court Judge Leonard J. Brown at 4:30 a.m. on conspiracy, robbery, burglary, receiving stolen property criminal trespass and related offense. They were remanded to Bucks County prison on 10 percent of $100,000 bail.
The 17-year-old Bristol Borough boy is being charged as a minor.
The three are scheduled to appear before District Court Judge Joann Kline on October 23.
