Upper Salford man sent to prison for drug-fueled crimes
NORRISTOWN » An Upper Salford man who admitted to several drug-fueled crimes, including the attempted robbery of a Lower Frederick gas station, has been accepted into a state prison program that offers inmates treatment for their drug addictions.
Andrew Jamison Way, 26, of the 1500 block of Salford Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to two years in the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections’ Intermediate Punishment program, which will include incarceration and intensive treatment for his heroin addiction. Judge Gail A. Weilheimber also ordered Way to complete four years’ probation following his release from the prison program.
Way previously pleaded guilty to charges of burglary and attempted robbery in connection with incidents that occurred between May 2016 and February 2017. Specifically, Way admitted to burglarizing a home in Upper Salford on Feb. 22, 2017, during which coins were stolen, and to a May 11, 2016, robbery attempt at the U.S. Gas station located in the 1400 block of North Gravel Pike in Lower Frederick.
During his guilty plea hearing last year, Way told the judge he wanted to get his life back on track.
At that time, Assistant District Attorney Matthew Brittenburg argued that Way was addicted to heroin and was committing the crimes in order to fuel his drug habit.
The victim of the Lower Frederick attempted robbery also did not oppose Way being sentenced to the intermediate punishment program.
In the attempted robbery case, an investigation of Way began about 3 p.m. May 11, 2016, when the owner of the convenience store reported to state police at Skippack that a male, wearing a darkcolored, hooded sweatshirt, dark pants and sunglasses, entered his store and attempted to rob him. The male, later identified as Way, approached the counter with a beverage that cost 99 cents and handed the owner four quarters.
“(The owner) opened the cash drawer to deposit the money at which time the male shoved him backwards and grabbed at the currency in the cash drawer,” state police Trooper Brad Furlong alleged in the criminal complaint.
The owner reported Way was unable to remove any currency from the cash drawer. Way, authorities alleged, then fled from the store on foot.
State police obtained video surveillance footage from the store and police determined that just prior to shoving the clerk, Way retrieved a large knife from the front pocket of his sweatshirt with his right hand, according to the arrest affidavit. Way shoved the clerk with his right hand while holding the knife, according to the video surveillance obtained by authorities.
Still images of the suspect where disseminated through various media outlets and then to the public.
On May 13, a relative of Way notified state police that he believed Way was the male pictured in the video surveillance images and informed police that Way had access to a silver survival knife in a sheath, according to court papers. That relative told authorities that Way “has had difficulties with drug addiction for several years,” Furlong wrote.
On May 14, Way voluntarily went to police and admitted to committing the crime while brandishing a knife and turned over to police the clothing he was wearing at the time of the crime, court documents indicate.
Last year, Way also pleaded guilty to two counts of driving under the influence of a controlled substance and admitted to driving under the influence of heroin in Lower Salford on Oct. 14, 2016, and again on Feb. 21, 2017. In that case, Way previously was sentenced to 72 hours to six months in jail on the DUI charges.