Raymond Daniels
Credit: Newtown Township police
A 24-year-old Philadelphia man was arrested by the U.S. Marshal Service and Newtown Township detectives Monday morning for his alleged role in a frightening home invasion-style robbery.
Raymond Anthony Daniels was arrested around 6:30 a.m. Monday after members of the U.S. Marshal Service surrounded a home he was at along the 200 block of West Rockland Street in the city. He was returned to Bucks County and arraigned around 9 a.m. before District Judge William Benz on 70 charges, including robbery, possession of a prohibited firearm, burglary, conspiracy, unlawful restraint and more. At arraignment, Daniels was sent to the Bucks County Correctional Facility in Doylestown on 10 percent of $750,000 bail.
According to court papers obtained by NewtownPANow.com, the home invasion-style robbery happened early in the morning of Monday, August 21 in the 20 block of Wellington Road in Newtown Township. Officers responded around 2:30 a.m. after receiving a 9-1-1 call reporting a robbery by three men.
A woman was sleeping in the basement and awoke to find two men wearing masks and carrying handguns next to her. They told her to shut up and that her father owed them money. The men tied her up using either shoestring or spandex and threatened her. The woman said the suspects took her cell phone and one stayed while the other exited the basement, according to police.
A 12-year-old girl upstairs was sleeping when the suspects came in her bedroom and held a gun to her head, police said.
The parents of the 12-year-old girl awoke to see a man in a mask holding a gun to their daughter. He then demanded jewelry, cash and the location of the family safe or he would kill the girl. The father told the suspect to take his wallet and wife’s diamond earrings, according to police.
The suspect then ripped the necklace off the neck of the man’s wife and found the family safe. He removed a .380 Walther handgun, gold jewelry, handbags, luggage and $48,000 in cash, police said.
One of the suspects ordered the family into a closet and locked the door. The suspects then told the family to count to 100 before moving and threatened to kill one of their daughters who was away at college if they called police. The suspects then recited specific information on the daughter who was away and threatened to also come back and murder the whole family, according to court papers.
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Members of the family told detectives that all three suspects used their cell phone to communicate with one another during the home invasion.
The family said the value of the items taken during the robbery was $200,000.
In the hours after the robbery, the family’s credit card was used at three retail stores in the region. The purchases involved thousands of dollars in gift cards, police said.
Using the information from the gift cards purchased, police were able to make a connection to Daniels. His cell phone tracked to the Wellington Road area around the time of the home invasion-style robbery and linked him to a second suspect, who has not yet been charged but has previous convictions for robbery and murder.
According to police, Daniels has a criminal history that involves robbery, conspiracy and violations of the uniform firearms act.
Supervisory Deputy Marshal Robert Clark said members of the Fugitive Task Force surrounded the Philadelphia home Daniels was in around 6:30 a.m. Monday. They spotted Daniels peering out a window and quickly entered the home. They were able to get Daniels to comply with orders and took him into custody.
Further information on if the suspects knew the family who was robbed and on the other suspects was not immediately available as of publication time.
Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.
