Aston man held in Chester County robbery plot

WEST CHESTER >> A Chester County judge ordered a Delaware County man held on $50,000 bail Thursday during his arraignment on charges that he helped mastermind a home invasion robbery in which the victim was allegedly told his loved ones would be killed if he reported the crime to police.

Magisterial District Judge Marian Thayer Vito set the cash bail for Jahnai Monyea Rawls at the proceeding in which he was formally charged with robbery, burglary, theft by unlawful taking, terroristic threats and criminal trespass.

Rawls, 20, of Aston, had been held in Delaware County Prison on a probation violations stemming from a 2017 theft conviction. A preliminary hearing on the robbery charge was set for Oct. 22.

According to a criminal complaint filed by West Chester Corporal Scott Whiteside, Rawls was one of two men who forced their way into the kitchen of a house in the 500 block of South Matlack Street in August brandishing handguns.

Inside, they confronted a male resident of the house and forced him to lie on the kitchen floor.

One of the men pointed a handgun at him and said he would “pop” him if he moved, while the man went though the victim’s clothing and took his driver’s license. While he was held at gunpoint, the second man searched through the rest of the home.

The victim, whose name is being withheld by MediaNews Group because others involved in the plot remain at large, was later led to a back room and again forced to lie on the floor. There, the men told them, “that they knew where he lived and if he called police they would return and kill his family,” Whiteside wrote in the complaint against Rawls.

The man called police as soon as the pair left.

Police were able to track Rawls down through a tip from an unidentified source who said he or she had overheard one of the plotters discussing the robbery. When Whiteside was able to obtain a photo of Rawls through a law enforcement database, the victim in the robbery immediately identified him as one of the men who had come into his house.

The robbery occurred around 10 p.m. on Aug. 16. It occurred about the same time as another home invasion robbery nearby in the 700 block of South Walnut Street. Police now do not believe the two incidents are related.

A warrant for Rawls was issued on Sept. 27.