1-MAN CRIME WAVE BUSTED
COPS: HE TERRORIZED WOMAN, 84, DURING TRAINER HOME INVASION
Broke and brazen, a Trainer man may have been undergoing heroin withdrawal when he allegedly embarked on a one-man crime spree that included terrorizing an 84-year old neighborhood woman during a home invasion/robbery before he crossed into Upper Chichester and pulled off three more robberies – all within about a two-hour time period, according to charging documents.
Scott Slaven, 39, of the 1000 block of Anderson Street in Trainer, was arrested July 23 following a joint investigations by Trainer and Upper Chichester police. Preliminarily arraigned on a long list of charges in connection with the Upper Chichester incidents, Slaven was remanded to the county prison where he remained as of late Friday, in lieu of posting 10 percent of $100,000 bail. Additionally, he’s being held on a detainer in connection with the Trainer home invasion.
At one point soon after the Trainer home invasion and before the trio of robberies in Upper Chichester, Slaven walked by the 84-year-old victim’s residence and waved at police as they were collecting evidence – among which included a dirty, camouflage baseball cap identical to one known to have been worn by Slaven, according to a charging document authored by Detective Rick Jones of the Trainer Police Department.
It was about 9:50 p.m. July 23 when Jones was dispatched to investigate a burglary and assault at the woman’s residence in the 1000 block of Anderson Street. A short time and three Upper Chichester robberies later, Slaven was arrested by Patrolman Matthew S. McCusker of the Upper Chichester Police Department and Officer James Hallman of the Trainer Police Department after being positively identified by at least two robbery victims in Upper Chichester, and hauled off in handcuffs.
Calling her “tough as nails,” Trainer Police Chief Fran Priscopo on Friday lauded the 84-year-old victim whose identification of a suspect, in conjunction with the actions by police from both the Trainer and Upper Chichester police departments, resulted in Slaven’s swift arrest.
“It was good work all around for sure,” Priscopo said.
According to Jones’ affidavit, the 84-year-old woman told police she was asleep in bed when a man she recognized as Slaven, despite his attempt to cover his face with a scarf, entered her home through a rear bedroom window and demanded money, sometime between 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on July 23.
She described the intrude as forcefully pushing her head into a pillow and holding her down as he yelled for money, though she told him she had none.
“She immediately recognized Mr. Slaven’s voice as he yelled at her loudly,” the affidavit states.
“I’m not leaving until I get money,” the intruder yelled as he slammed the woman into her bed at least three times,” the affidavit continued.
The victim also told police that when she lifted her head from the pillow, she saw that the intruder’s head was only partially concealed.
“She noticed numerous features that made it clear that the actor was Scott Slaven,” the affidavit states.
Slaven had done odd jobs for the woman in the past. He was “constantly stopping over and requesting to borrow money” from the woman, and the woman has filed previous harassment complaints against Slaven, the affidavit states.
The woman suffered an injury to her forearm during the about 10-minute ordeal, but she refused any medical treatment.
Slaven was taken into custody in Upper Chichester — not long after a man matching his description allegedly pulled a knife on a customer as he was pumping gas at the Sunoco A-Plus at 1120 Township Line Road and then took possession of his red Dodge Neon, driving off toward Highland Avenue, at around 11:09 p.m. The carjacker was described as a 6-foot tall white man with scruffy facial hair wearing a black shirt, blue jeans and black hat, according to a separate probable cause affidavit written by McCusker. Eleven minutes later, at 11:20 p.m., Upper Chichester police received a radio call for a strong-arm robbery at Wendy’s in the 3100 block of Chichester Avenue. Police were notified a white man wearing a white mask and black shirt reached through the driver’s side window of a woman’s vehicle. After a brief struggle with the woman, the suspect grabbed her brown purse containing her cell phone and credit cards and fled in a red sedan, the victim told police.
At 11:34 p.m., township police were dispatched to the Wawa in the 2300 block of Chichester Avenue – about a quarter-mile south of Wendy’s – for an armed robbery that had just occurred. Police were told that a white man — wearing a black shirt and black hat with a white sheet covering the lower part of his face — ran behind the counter and held a knife to the back of a store employee who was working the register, saying, “Open the drawer.”
The suspect made off with about $250, comprised mostly of $1 bills, some $5 bills and a few $10 and $20 bills.
McCusker was speaking to the victim in the carjacking when he saw the stolen red Dodge Neon coming off the Highland Avenue exit, make a right turn onto Township Line Road and then a quick left turn onto
Forrest Street. The information was relayed to assisting police units. Subsequently, township police Officer Jason Yaletchko found the stolen vehicle about 1000 feet from the scene of the original robbery. The car was unoccupied and the keys were found on the floorboards. Also found inside
the car was a pair of blue latex gloves, as well as the brown purse containing a cell phone that belonged to the victim of the robbery that occurred outside Wendy’s.
Just as the stolen vehicle was being recovered, Hallman located a man matching the description of the serial robber. The man, identified as Slaven, was stopped at Meadow Lane and Keystone Road – about 50 yards from where the vehicle
was recovered.
Subsequently, victims in the carjacking and Wawa robberies positively identified Slaven as the alleged offender. Recovered from Slaven during a search was a wad of bills, consistent in denomination from the money stolen from Wawa. According to Upper Chichester police, Slaven confessed to the three crimes in the township.
As part of the investigation, police reviewed video
from the Wawa. The video shows the stolen red vehicle entering the parking lot from Chichester Avenue and an individual emerge from the driver’s side and enter the store. Armed with a knife, the individual was wearing a black hat, black T-shirt, long blue-jean shorts, blue latex gloves, and he had a white sheet covering part of his face.
According to Trainer authorities, Slaven is a known heroin user and has had
multiple contacts with law enforcement. During an interview on July 24, Slaven’s wife told Trainer authorities her husband had “a very serious drug problem and was out of money,” according to the affidavit.
Slaven is listed to appear for a preliminary hearing Aug. 8 on robbery, theft, receiving stolen property and terroristic threats offenses in connection with the Upper Chichester incidents.
Charges filed in connection
with the Trainer home invasion include aggravated and simple assault, burglary, reckless endangerment, terroristic threats, criminal trespass, robbery, theft, loitering and prowling at night and harassment.
It was not known if Slaven had retained an attorney.
Trainer Police Sgt. Richard Cominskie and fellow Officer Michael Musso assisted in the investigation.