Man gets probation for robbery of 17-year-old youth
MEDIA COURTHOUSE » The second of two adults involved in a March robbery with an Upper Darby juvenile offender who had escaped from a detention facility was entered into the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program Thursday.
Adebayo Emmanuel Awobalkun, 19, will serve two years of probation and perform 64 hours of community service under the ARD negotiation worked out by Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Glackin and defense counsel Wayne Punshon.
Awobalkun and Shedrick Cooper, 22, were charged March 21 with the robbery of a 17-year-old victim on the 300 block of Copley Road.
The victim told police he was walking when a car with three males inside pulled up. The escaped juvenile allegedly exited the car and went through the victim’s pockets, taking a cell phone, $6 in cash and a gift card. The three suspects drove off and the victim called 911. He was able to provide authorities with nicknames of two suspects and identified Awobaikun and Cooper from photographs.
The victim also provided Upper Darby Police Detective Leo Henshaw with the number to his stolen phone. Henshaw called and the person who answered hung up. Henshaw then sent a text to the phone telling the person to bring it in to police headquarters. Awobaikun and Cooper both arrived and were taken into custody.
The Upper Darby escapee had left the Abraxus 1 detention center in Howe Township March 19 with a 15-year-old boy from Newark, Del., and a 16-year-old boy from Harrisburg, according to police. Officers set up surveillance at the Upper Darby escapee’s residence on Veronica Road. Police soon spotted a trio of youths on a nearby corner, one of whom matched the description from the Copley Road robbery.
Police confronted the youths and found they were the escaped juveniles. The stolen gift card was found on the 17-year-old Upper Darby escapee, according to police. The three boys were taken into custody.
Cooper pleaded guilty in October to disorderly conduct and conspiracy charges. He was given 23 months of confinement with immediate parole and two years of consecutive probation, according to court records. Cooper was also ordered to perform 40 hours of community service and have no contact with the victim.
Glackin indicated that a robbery offense for Awobalkun remains outstanding and that failure to comply with the ARD program would result in removal from the program and a trial. Delaware County Common Pleas Court Judge Anthony Scanlon told Awobalkun that it is “critically important” that he comply with the program.