Police: Two of four robbery suspects in custody

They have been linked to more than half a dozen holdups

By Kathleen Brady Shea, Managing Editor, The Times

Coatesville Det./Sgt. Brandon Harris (left) and Officer Carmen Mollichella escort robbery suspect Zane Robinson, 19, to a police car.

Two of the four men linked to a roving band of robbers who have terrified Coatesville residents for weeks were arraigned Thursday morning on multiple charges.

And Coatesville Police Chief Jack Laufer had a message for the other two: Surrender. “We have a good idea who you are so it would be in your best interest to turn yourselves in,” he said.

Laufer added that any revitalization in Coatesville “cannot continue when people can’t feel safe in their homes or on the street …We take this kind of crime very seriously, and it’s not going to be tolerated.”

Appearing in Valley Township district court for their arraignment, Zane Robinson, 19, of South Coatesville, and Christopher P. Howard, 19, of Exton, indicated that have much in common besides charges that include robbery, theft by unlawful taking, and receiving stolen property. Both told Magisterial District Judge Grover E. Koon that they are expectant fathers and unemployed high-school dropouts from broken homes.

Coatesville Det./Sgt. Brandon Harris takes Christopher P. Howard to an awaiting police car for transport to his arraignment on robbery charges.

Robinson told Koon he was on bail, and Howard said he was on probation. Koon set bail for each at $100,000 cash, despite Howard’s plea for a lower amount so that he could take his GED. “I’ve been studying hard,” he told the judge.

Police would argue that Howard and his co-defendants were working harder at committing crimes. According to the criminal complaint, Howard admitted participating in a robbery and an attempted robbery on Nov. 10 as well as “four to five other robberies in Coatesville in the last two to three weeks.”

The complaint said that two Hispanic victims of the Nov. 10 robbery in the 300 block of West Harmony Street came to the police station on Nov. 13 and told detectives that they attempted to retrieve their stolen Samsung phone by dialing its number. The male who answered said they could get the phone returned for $150, the complaint said.

Working with detectives, the victims immediately set up a rendezvous at the post office in the 200 block of Chestnut Street, the complaint said. Before the exchange took place, the victims identified the two men present as the robbers, and Howard and Robinson were apprehended, the complaint said. Howard had the stolen Samsung in his pocket, the complaint said.

The complaint said that Howard also acknowledged the assault of a woman near the “Flats” the same night of the Samsung theft. He said they grabbed her purse but she wouldn’t let go, the complaint said, adding that “they dragged her out into the street, but the woman held on” and they fled, the complaint said.

Laufer said he was grateful to the victims who came forward as well as the investigators who worked on the case, including Officer Jose Colon, whose bilingual skills were invaluable. The chief said police are still working to determine the scope of the robberies or attempted robberies, which appear to span at least a month, he said.

One victim of two recent robbery attempts appeared at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting to describe his ordeal, which police would not have known about otherwise, Laufer said. He said he wanted to encourage anyone else who might have been victimized to contact police at 610-384-2300.