Two men are charged with the violent robbery of a Bucks County comic book store that happened in September 2022, according to the county's district attorney's office.
Both of the alleged robbers are truck drivers from the state of Michigan, the DA's office reported.
22-year-old Zackery Maximus Tucker was arraigned on Monday and faces charges of robbery, aggravated assault, unlawful restraint and other related charges, officials said.
Tucker is currently at the Bucks County Correctional Facility under $300,000 bail, 10%.
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The second suspect who was charged in connection to the robbery is 35-year-old Caleb James-Lorenze Simpson.
Simpson is in custody in Michigan before he'll be extradited to Pennsylvania.
Violent comic book store robbery
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Caleb Simpson and Zackery Tucker are accused of attacking the owner of Comic Collection in the Feasterville section of Lower Southampton Township just before 5 p.m. on Sept. 18, 2022, police said.
When officers arrived at the store on the day of the violent robbery, they found the 61-year-old victim on the floor inside the store, officials said. He was tied up and suffering wounds from being beaten.
Investigators learned that the two suspects went into the store and approached the owner pretending to be legitimate customers, police said.
The Bucks County District Attorney's Office says that during the robbery, one suspect was wearing a black, hooded sweatshirt while the other was wearing a red "Deadpool" t-shirt.
The two asked the owner for help with merchandise that was located up on a high shelf, officials explained. Once the owner was up on the ladder to grab the product, one of the men knocked him off causing him to fall to the ground.
Once he was on the ground, both of the men proceeded to beat him, investigators said. They tied up the store owner using zip ties and the man in the black sweatshirt punched the victim repeatedly in the face with brass knuckles before holding a knife to his face threatening to kill him.
Both of the suspects then pulled two large duffel bags from their backpack before stealing a laptop, the victim's keys, cash, comic books, Pokémon cards, action figures and other store merchandise, police said.
While being chased by the officers, the men left the filled duffel bags in the woods nearby, police reported.
The victim suffered several contusions, lacerations and broken ribs, according to the District Attorney's Office.
Capturing the robbers
While investigating the area around the store, officials reported finding clothing that was worn by the suspects as well as the merchandise taken from the store. The clothing was sent to the Pennsylvania State Police crime lab.
At one point, the suspect wearing the black sweatshirt was seen on surveillance cameras taking off his hat and sweatshirt, officials explained. This revealed a forearm tattoo that covered his wrist to his elbow.
Then, over a year later on Dec. 19, 2023, a detective with the Lower Southampton Police Department got a tip that a long-haul trucker, Caleb Simpson, and another trucker, Zackery Tucker, were behind the violent robbery at the comic book store, the DA's office says.
Simpson had been arrested three weeks after the violent robbery for trying to steal a firearm in Michigan, officials said.
The detective called the police department in Michigan and they were able to send photos of Simpson that showed him with whom police identified as Zackery Tucker. Both men matched the descriptions of the comic book robbers.
Then, in February of 2024, investigators got the results back from the Pennsylvania State Police crime lab that connected Simpson to the Comic Collection robbery.
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