An arrest was made after two armed robbers tied up a woman and her son during a home invasion in Abington Township, Pennsylvania, police said.
On Monday, Dec. 2, 2024, around 3:15 p.m., Abington Police responded to a report of a home invasion on the 200 block of Cedar Road. The officers met with a woman and her adult son. The woman told police that while she was loading her car in her driveway, two gunmen approached her and announced a robbery.
The armed robbers forced the woman inside her home where they held her and her son at gunpoint, investigators said.
The robbers ransacked the home for nearly an hour, stealing cash, jewelry, electronics and collectibles, according to police. They then tied up the victims and fled in the woman’s vehicle, police said.
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A short time later, the woman and her son freed themselves, ran to a nearby church and called 911. Neither victim was injured.
An hour later, Abington Police recovered the woman’s unoccupied vehicle in Philadelphia.
Investigators later identified 24-year-old Jonathan Dell of Philadelphia as one of the suspects in the home invasion. Police said Dell had a prior personal connection to someone inside the home.
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"We know that the suspect and the victim knew each other," Abington Township Police Chief Pat Molloy said. "This was a targeted home and they didn't hurt the individuals in that home."
A warrant was issued for his arrest and Abington Police, Philadelphia Police and the U.S. Marshals all took part in the investigation.
On Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, Dell was taken into custody in Philadelphia and then transported to the Abington Police Department. He is charged with robbery, burglary, kidnapping, carrying a firearm without a license and other related offenses. He was transferred to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility where he is awaiting arraignment.
Police continue to search for the second suspect in the home invasion. They have not yet released a description.
The incident was one of two home invasions to occur in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, this month. A man was killed and his mother was badly injured in a home invasion, shooting and robbery in Lower Merion Township back on Dec. 8.
Chief Molloy told NBC10 Abington's tactical unit took 41-year-old Charles Fulforth -- one of the suspects in the Lower Merion Township home invasion -- into custody in Jenkintown on Thursday, Dec. 12.
"It is rare for people to go into your home while you're there at gunpoint," Chief Molloy said. "And when we see two of them and both associated with Abington in some way, I just want my residents to know that there's no trend out there."
