Convicted murderer among four charged in pharmacy robbery

MIDDLETOWN A convicted murderer, two Chester teenagers and a 29-year-old Philadelphia man have been charged in connection with the armed robbery of the Elwyn Pharmacy on Monday.

Anthony Govan, 42, who served substantial prison time for the 1990 drug-deal killing of an Upper Chichester man, was allegedly a passenger in the getaway car involved in the pharmacy heist. Pennsylvania State Police have charged Govan and Rasul Wade, 29, with conspiracy to commit robbery and related offenses for their alleged role in Mondays robbery.

Kevin Darnell Argro Jr., 16, of the 3200 block of West Third Street, and 17-year-old Razzaq Amin Muhammad, of the 2900 block of West 11th Street, are charged as adults with robbery, possession of firearms, terroristic threats, and related offenses. Magisterial District Judge Horace Davis set bail at 10 percent of $200,000 for each of the defendants. All four were remanded to Delaware County prison.

The suspects were arrested a short time after the robbery after a Trainer police officer spotted the getaway car in Lower Chichester. After calling for backup, the officer followed the car into Chester, where it was pulled over at Sixth and Booth streets.

Area law enforcement officers, on heightened alert after several recent pharmacy heists, responded quickly to a silent alarm triggered by Elwyn Pharmacy employees at 11:09 a.m. Trooper David Lang, of the Troop K Media Barracks Criminal Investigation Unit, arrived at the scene within minutes, but the suspects had already fled.

Employees told Lang two black males had entered the pharmacy wearing ski masks, gloves and black clothing, according to the affidavit of probable cause. One of the suspects, who was wearing a backpack, brandished a gun, pointed it at the clerk and ordered him to hand over the cash from the register, the affidavit states. After receiving the money, the suspects fled, heading south on South Middletown Road.

Lang reviewed the video surveillance and saw two black males walking up and past the store before entering.

A witness reported seeing a green Chevy Suburban with damage to the front hood pull up on Springhouse Lane, directly behind the pharmacy, before the robbery. The witness saw two black males get out of the SUV and walk toward South Middletown Road, Route 352, as the Suburban drove away. Minutes later, the witness saw the same vehicle pull up. The two black males jumped back in and the SUV drove off.

Another witness told Lang he was driving south on Route 352 when a green SUV with front-hood damage almost rear-ended him, the affidavit states. The witness said he looked into his rearview mirror and saw a male driver, possibly with a beard, and another person in the passenger seat. The information about the fleeing SUV was put out over police radio.

Minutes later, a Trainer police officer spotted the Chevy Suburban in Lower Chichester and called in its location. The vehicle was stopped in Chester and the four occupants taken into custody. Lang arrived at the vehicle stop and identified two of the males as the same people he saw on the pharmacy surveillance video. Continued...

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Convicted murderer among four charged in pharmacy robbery