Two waive hearings in ‘weed robbery’

WEST CHESTER >> Two men from the Lehigh Valley who allegedly came to West Chester to rob a reputed marijuana dealer of drugs and cash waived their preliminary hearings in West Chester District Court Friday.

A third man who had allegedly arranged the crime and who was arrested along with the other two died last month at Brandywine Hospital in Caln, an apparent suicide.

Ezra Dante Gaines, 21, of Easton, and Candido Vokdo Young, 21, of Allentown agreed to have their case held over for trial in Common Pleas Court during brief proceedings before Magisterial District Judge Marian Vito of West Chester without making the

prosecution put on a case of probable cause.

Such waivers, as they are known, are sometimes a prelude to a defendant accepting

a plea agreement in the case rather than proceeding to trial, although there is no guarantee that such an arrangement will happen.

Gaines and Young are both charged with felony robbery, burglary, criminal trespass, theft by unlawful

taking, simple assault, terroristic threats, and related charges in connection with the attempt to rob the dealer of his drugs and money at an apartment on East Rosedale Avenue.

Police caught Gaines, Young and the third man, Kevin William Johnson, as

they tried to run from the apartment building in the early morning hours of Dec. 8. Both Gaines and Young gave incriminating statements to West Chester police detailing their involvement in the crime, according to a criminal complaint.

In his arrest affidavit,

borough Detective Robert Kuehn said police had gone to the apartment in the 200 block of East Rosedale Avenue shortly after 2 a.m. for a report of a robbery in progress. When units arrived, officers spotted two men – later identified as Gaines and Johnson – coming off a second-floor fire escape on the side of the building.

One of the men, Gaines, ran back into the building while the other jumped from the fire escape and was taken into custody by Officers Jerry Ferriola and Greg Cugino. Sgt. Henry Hague and Officer Harry O’Neill spotted a gun, later determined to be an unregistered .40 caliber semi-automatic, on the ground near where the men had been seen.

Gaines soon was taken into custody as he came back out on the fire escape and the third man, Young, was arrested after officers ordered him to come out of the building. When they entered, the officers found one of the residents of the building with his hands zip-tied behind his back.

The man told Kuehn that he had been in bed when two men came into the room and put a gun to his head, threatening to shoot him if he moved, according to the affidavit. The men asked him where his “money and weed” were, and then tied him up. He directed

them to the money under his mattress and marijuana in a closet, and then they tried to flee.

Gaines and Young were interviewed later that morning by Kuehn and gave statements in which they said they were contacted by Johnson about getting money and drugs from Murphy, with whom he had prior dealings and who had a “large quantity of marijuana,” according to the complaint. Gaines said that Johnson had the gun with him in a book bag when they drove from Easton, where he had met Johnson and Young.

Gaines is being held in Chester County Prison on $75,000 cash, and is represented by attorney Steven Patrizio of Philadelphia, who accompanied him at the hearing before Vito. Young is being held on $95,000 cash bail and is represented by attorney Brenda Jones of West Chester, who also accompanied him at the proceeding.

According to a county spokeswoman, Johnson, of Easton, was found suffering from an apparent suicide attempt at the prison and taken to Brandywine, where he was pronounced dead. Details of the suicide were not released.