Convicted drugstore robber’s woes aren’t over
Delaware man faces another trial for another holdup
MEDIA COURTHOUSE » A Delaware man already facing 22 to 44 years for robbing the Media CVS last year will return to court in September for charges in a second 2017 robbery at an Upper Chichester Walgreens.
Kwesi Hudson, 47, of Wilmington, was found guilty of two counts of robbery and two counts of false imprisonment for the May 24, 2017, robbery at the Baltimore Pike CVS following a jury trial Wednesday.
Hudson was arrested at the scene in that case, in which he brandished a pellet gun designed to look like a real gun and demanded employees give him nearly $5,000 from a safe before ordering them into a bathroom.
Assistant District Attorney Michael Mattson said Hudson faces a minimum 10 to 20 years and a maximum 22 to 44 years for those charges at sentencing, set for August 7.
Hudson is also charged with more than 40 counts in a May 9, 2017, stickup at the Walgreens at 2608 Naaman’s Creek Road, including robbery, simple and aggravated assault, theft, possession of a weapon, false imprisonment, kidnap, reckless endangerment and terroristic threats.
An affidavit of probable cause in that case states that officers responded to the pharmacy at about 9:54 p.m. for a report of an armed robbery that had just occurred.
Officers spoke with three victims, all store employees, including one juvenile. Video surveillance showed the robber enter the store with a black handgun wearing a black ski mask, black pants, dark shoes, a grey hooded sweatshirt and gloves, according to the affidavit.
The video allegedly shows the robber grabbing the juvenile by the hair and taking her toward the back of the store. The robber is seen slamming the juvenile face first into a shelf, then picking her up again by the hair and proceeding to drag her to the back office where the other two victims were counting money, according to the affidavit.
One victim said the robber entered the office with the juvenile and pointed a gun at his face. The robber ordered that victim and the juvenile to lie down on the ground and demanded that the third victim bag up the money, the affidavit states.
While the third victim was complying, the robber can be seen in the video pistol whipping the juvenile in the back of the head, according to the affidavit. The victim who had the gun pointed at his head also reported being struck with the gun before the robber removed $40 from his wallet.
The juvenile suffered lacerations to the back of her head and lip, and was transported to Crozer-Chester Medical Center for treatment.
The robber fled the store with bank bags containing $4,128 and headed toward Meetinghouse Road and CSX train tracks. Police scoured the path of the fleeing suspect and recovered cash and rolled coins, as well as a black Powerline BB gun and a black ski mask containing money.
The ski mask was sent off to the Pennsylvania State Police Crime Lab for analysis.
Upper Darby Detective Christopher Jones later learned of the CVS robbery and reviewed pictures of the suspect in that case, identified as Hudson. The affidavit notes that both suspects were wearing similar clothing.
Jones interviewed Hudson May 31, 2017, and obtained a sample of his DNA.
Hudson did not admit to the Walgreens robbery, but did allegedly say that he had planned other robberies. He also said the items recovered in the Walgreens case had been stolen out of his car a few months prior and that he had purchased a new BB gun that he used in the Media robbery, according to the affidavit.
The DNA sample was later matched to a sample recovered from the ski mask found outside the Walgreens, according to the affidavit.
Trial in the Walgreens case is set to begin Sept. 10 before Delaware County Common Pleas Court Judge Mary Alice Brennan. Mattson indicated it will likely take a week and that he plans to call 15 witnesses.
Hudson, represented by defense attorney Vincent Davalos, remains in custody at the county prison in Concord pending sentencing in the CVS case.
He was previously sentenced to serve 17 to 20 years in New Jersey for a robbery in 1997 and was released in December 2014, according to online records. He also has two other 2017 robbery cases pending against him in Chester County.