Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Standoff in Media ends with arrest of Del. man
An attempted armed robbery turned hours-long standoff with a barricaded man at a CVS drug store on Baltimore Pike ended peacefully Wednesday night.
Police said Kwesi Hudson, 46, of Wilmington, Del., in ski mask and black clothes entered through the main entrance of the CVS at 295 E. Baltimore Ave., pointing a gun and demanding cash from employees. The store was set to close in 10 minutes.
Before being forced by the gunman into the bathroom, one hostage was able to call police. Police, located a half mile from the scene of the crime, responded immediately.
In trying to escape, police said, Hudson was met by officers first at the rear exit by the loading dock. He returned inside to find officers from additional police departments that had converged on the store guarding the front entrance. After a brief confrontation Hudson then fled to a second floor stockroom, dropping the bag of money in the process.
It was then that police officers were able find and free the employees locked into the bathroom and escorted them safely from the building. However, at that time, Hudson refused to
surrender, police said.
The Central Delco Tactical Response Team was called in around 10:03 p.m. where they conducted an operation a robot to find the suspect, and an hour of negotiations to end the barricade peacefully.
Following the hour and a half standoff, Hudson had been completely surrounded. More than two dozen fully equipped SWAT officers filed into the rear entrance with riot shields, assault rifles and full tactical gear.
Outside, officers armed with scoped semi-automatic rifles were helped onto the roof of the Media Real Estate Co. that sits adjacent to the CVS on Baltimore Pike between Radnor Street and South Edgmont Street by use of the Media Fire Co. Hook & Ladder.
Other officers were stationed on the roof of the Media Medical Plaza, while watchful eyes of the citizenry were kept a blocks away in a radius around the CVS.
A state trooper said it was Central Delco TRT used the robot to locate the hiding suspect that he realized he was totally outnumbered and facing insurmountable odds.
Hudson surrendered without incident.
Hudson has a “lengthy” criminal history, according to a release from Media police, that includes robbery and firearms violations.
According to news reports online, Hudson had been sentenced to 20 years in jail for a 1997 robbery of a Woodbury, N.J., Blockbuster Video store, using strikingly similar methods.
Hudson and an accomplice donned ski masks and burst in the store around midnight on December 15, 1997. The accomplish to Hudson struck a Blockbuster employee with the butt of the gun and the two men forced their way inside, ordered employees to the ground and demanded wallets and cash.
Police officers who had reported to the scene witnessed Hudson and his accomplice fleeing the scene. Following a short pursuit, Hudson and the other man were arrested and taken into custody.
On May 31 2002, Hudson was sentenced to 20 years in jail for armed robbery and weapon possession charges for wielding a knife in the Blockbuster robbery, as well as supplying the gun to the accomplice.
In 2011, Hudson failed his fifth appeal that claimed his 2002 trial conviction was “excessive and his attorney ineffective.” He claimed the sentence should not have barred parole for 85 percent of his prison term.
However, Assistant Gloucester County Prosecutor Joseph Enos, who opposed the appeal, said Hudson’s lawyer was “anything but ineffective” after Hudson’s attorney was able to secure an acquittal of a second video store holdup.
Hudson would been eligible for parole after 17 years.
A Facebook profile was found for Hudson, in which his “likes” include DraftKings sports betting, motorbikes, boxing, clothing and shoes.
His two Facebook images show a smiling man with a sense of style. In one image he’s wearing a black leather jacket out to dinner, in an another knitted wearing a sweater and a “Baker boy” style cap — which ironically is also called a “Bandit cap” — with a clean-cut facial hair and a bald head.
His appearance online was a far cry from the sulking man being placed under arrest Wednesday night in the CVS parking lot, wearing baggy black clothes, hanging his head.
Police indicated the handgun he reportedly used to threaten employees for the undetermined amount of money was found near where he was hiding.
Charges against Hudson are pending.
Wednesday nights in Media are the often the busiest nights of the week during the spring and summer months with the weekly Dining Under the Stars event on State Street.
Media police were assisted with traffic and other duties by police from Upper Providence, Nether Providence, Springfield, Swarthmore, Newtown, Marple, Haverford, Brookhaven, and officers from Pennsylvania State Police, Delaware County Criminal Investigation Division, Delaware County Sheriff’s office, Media Fire Co., Philadelphia Tac Air One, Delaware County 911 Center and several others.