Accused serial burglar arrested in Montco

NORRISTOWN >> A Philadelphia man is accused of multiple daytime residential burglaries and attempted burglaries in Montgomery, Delaware and Philadelphia counties, including one during which he allegedly performed a sex act in view of a 102-year-old woman.

Raheem White, 41, of the 200 block of East Montana Street, was arraigned before District Court Judge Patricia A. Zaffarano on charges of burglary, attempted burglary, criminal trespass, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, indecent assault and indecent exposure in connection with alleged incidents that occurred in the three counties between July 2020 and January 2021.

Zaffarano set bail at $1 million cash and White, unable to post bail, was remanded to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility to await an April 2 preliminary hearing on the charges.

White’s arrest was announced Friday by Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele, Upper Dublin Township Police Chief Francis Wheatley, Cheltenham Township Police Chief John Frye and Lower Merion Township Superintendent Michael J. McGrath.

“Every burglary involves the loss of belongings, but it also steals the residents’ sense of safety and wellbeing in their own home,” Steele said on Friday. “And not only does this defendant break into people’s houses in broad daylight, but he exposes himself and performs a sex act in front of a 102-year-old woman, who had a hard time returning to her home. What an egregious act.”

With the charges, authorities alleged White was linked to nine daytime residential burglaries and three attempted burglaries that occurred in Cheltenham Township, Lower Merion Township, Springfield Township, Upper Dublin Township and Jenkintown in Montgomery County; in Lansdowne in Delaware County; and in Philadelphia, between July 13, 2020 and Jan. 13, 2021.

During the break-ins, White also had “three disturbing sexual interactions” with female residents in Delaware and Montgomery counties, according to the criminal complaint filed by Upper Dublin Detective Michael Lebby and Cheltenham Detective Matthew Gonglik.

The investigation began on July 13, 2020, when Lansdowne police investigated break-ins at residences along Richards Avenue and West Greenwood Avenue. One female resident told police she awakened to find a man in one of her bedrooms putting items into a plastic bag. The man, later identified as White, asked the woman, “Are you OK ma’am” as he moved his hand down her left side until reaching the top of her buttock, according to court papers. The woman yelled

“Get your hands off me!” and White allegedly ran from the home.

On Jan. 9, 2021, a 102-year-old Cheltenham woman reported to police that she was sleeping in a chair about 2 p.m. when she was awakened by a man in the room who told her, “I’m not here to hurt you,” according to the criminal complaint. The victim said the man pushed his body against her so she could not get up and that she could not push him away “because he was too strong.” The man, later determined to be White, exposed himself to the woman, performed an indecent act in front of her and tried to pull her pants down, police alleged. White allegedly ransacked the residence before leaving.

Also on Jan. 9, an Upper Dublin woman reported to police that a man knocked on the door of her Martin Lane home and asked if she had ordered an Uber rideshare and when she said she had not he “wished her a Happy New Year, handed her mail to her and leaned into the homeowner’s screen door and attempted to kiss her,” detectives alleged. The interaction was captured by the victim’s home surveillance system, court papers indicate.

Other burglaries or attempted break-ins linked to White occurred along Buck Lane in Lower Merion on Dec. 25, 2020; along Hull Drive in Springfield, Montgomery County, on Jan. 4, 2021; along Twickenham Road in Cheltenham on Jan. 4, 2021; along Cresco Avenue in Philadelphia on Jan. 9, 2021; along Florence Avenue and along Runnymede Avenue in Jenkintown on Jan. 9, 2021; along Audubon Drive in Upper