Cops: Man arrested for Kohl’s robbery

A 28-year-old Philadelphia man has been arrested for allegedly robbing the Kohl’s department store in Hatfield Township and injuring a store employee while making his getaway, according to police.

Hatfield detectives said that Shade Roberts — who also goes by the alias “Billy Simpson,” according to court documents — was taken into custody by Philadelphia police on Saturday after an arrest warrant was issued by Hatfield police on April 7.

Roberts, of the 2500 block of Cecil B. Moore Avenue, was arraigned in district court on multiple counts of felony robbery, as well as misdemeanor counts of conspiracy, retail theft and receiving stolen property, and related offenses, then

committed to Montgomery County Correctional Facility in lieu of $50,000 cash bail.

Hatfield police said in charging documents that on the afternoon of Jan. 31, a man later identified as Roberts, along with a male accomplice, was seen by loss prevention employees at the Kohl’s at 2333 Welsh Road putting three JBL speakers worth $600 into a bag. The pair began walking toward the front of the store, at which point Roberts grabbed a box of Elizabeth Taylor Violet Eyes perfume, valued at $26.50, and stuffed it in the bag before the two men walked past the registers without paying and headed for the exits, according to a criminal complaint.

When a store employee approached them, Roberts and the other male started to run, with the Kohl’s employee chasing after them yelling at them to stop, and Roberts dropped the bag, police said. When the employee picked it up, Roberts started walking back toward him and punched him in the chest, then kicked the employee in the back after he hit the ground, then picked up the bag of stolen merchandise and jumped into a Toyota Yaris parked in front of the store as his accomplice drove off, according to the complaint.

The employee suffered abrasions to his back and shoulder, as well as back pain, from the assault, police said.

During the investigation, Hatfield detectives said, police learned that the Toyota had been involved in a crash in Plymouth Township and that a police report had listed Roberts as a passenger in the vehicle. Investigators obtained a photo of Roberts and the Kohl’s employee picked it out of a lineup as the person who had stolen the merchandise and assaulted him.

Police have not said whether they have identified Roberts’ alleged accomplice.

Roberts is due in Lansdale district court on May 2 for a preliminary hearing in the case.