Philadelphia brothers plead to armed Christmas robbery

MEDIA COURTHOUSE >> Two 18-yearold brothers have each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to robbery, felonies of the first-degree, for an armed Christmas Day stick-up that took place in Upper Darby.

Messyah Ford-Payton and Zachariah Payton, both of the 3900 block of Poplar Street in Philadelphia, entered open pleas before Delaware County Common Pleas Court Judge Margaret J. Amoroso Monday. Sentencing is set for Sept.

18.

The brothers were charged after a cell phone taken from one of the victims was traced to a vehicle used in the robbery, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

Upper Darby police responded to the 4400 block of Rosemont Avenue in Drexel Hill at about 1 p.m. for a report of a pedestrian robbery. The 45-year-old female victim told officers she was leaving her apartment building when she noticed a black Cadillac sedan parked outside.

One man exited the vehicle and asked if he could use her cell phone to call the police, according to the affidavit written by Detective Robert Marvil. As she pulled out her phone, two other men exited the sedan and approached her. One produced a black handgun and demanded her handbag.

She gave the robbers her bank card, license and Apple iPhone 7 before they returned to the car and fled.

The victim told Marvil she was tracking her phone through the Find my Phone application, which showed a real-time location result for West Philadelphia. Philadelphia police were given a description of the sedan and the phone’s current whereabouts as displayed by the app.

Philadelphia police arrived in the area of 43rd and Preston streets, where a traffic stop was initiated on a Cadillac matching the description. Ford-Payton and Payton were in the vehicle and were held at the scene until the victim arrived to positively identify them.

Ford-Payton said they had dropped off a third man at a nearby phone store to sell the phone, but he did not know where the man went afterward, according to the affidavit. The phone was located at the store and had been sold for $50.

A loaded handgun and a cellphone cover belonging to the victim were also found inside the Cadillac. Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood linked the brothers to two other robberies that took place late Christmas morning in Drexel Hill. One woman “flicked the guys” off and another had some ribbons and bows taken from her.

“The method was the same, they were all women,” Chitwood previously told the Daily Times. “They were just grabbing anyone they could in broad daylight.”

Assistant District Attorney Geoff Paine is prosecuting. Both brothers are represented by defense attorney Qawi Abdul-Rahman.