Trial ordered for man accused of attempting to kidnap Lower Merion woman
LOWER MERION » A Philadelphia man is facing a trial in Montgomery County Court on charges he attempted to kidnap and rob a Lower Merion woman, accosting her as she arrived home at her township apartment.
Kent William Powe, 58, of the 2000 block of South Redfield Street, was held for trial, after a six hour preliminary hearing before District Court Judge Karen Eisner Zucker, on charges of attempted kidnapping, robbery, possession of a prohibited firearm, possessing an instrument of crime and false imprisonment in connection with the alleged Nov. 4 incident at the Royal Athena Apartments complex in Lower Merion.
Powe, who remains in the county jail in lieu of $1 million bail, faces a formal arraignment on the charges in county court on Feb. 17. At that time, a judge will set a trial date for Powe.
If convicted of all the charges at trial, Powe faces a possible maximum sentence of 36 to 72 years in prison.
“Our main argument was that really what we had was this defendant literally stalking his prey. He was lying in wait, waiting for the victim and when he found her he pounced,” Assistant
District Attorney Scott Frank Frame alleged.
The investigation began Nov. 4 when Lower Merion police responded to the apartment complex in the 600 block of Righters Ferry Road for a report of a robbery. A female resident told police she was approached in an elevator by a male with a handgun about 6:55 p.m. as she arrived home and was headed to her apartment, according to the criminal complaint filed by Lower Merion Detective Edward Sarama.
The victim told detectives the man followed her into an elevator, stood behind her and then pressed an object against the left side of her back and uttered, “you know what this is,” according to the arrest affidavit.
“(The victim) turned around and saw that the male was pointing a dark gray handgun at her,” Sarama alleged. “She stated that at the time of the incident she felt as though she was being robbed. I asked (the woman) if she felt as though she was in danger of serious bodily harm and she stated, ‘yes, definitely.’”
When the elevator doors opened the male ordered the woman out of the elevator but she refused. When the male saw another female standing outside the elevator he fled from the building, according to court papers.
Det ec t ive s obtained video surveillance footage that showed the suspect in the elevator lobby “putting on gloves and holding a roll of what appears to be clear packing tape,” shortly before he encountered the victim, according to court papers.
The victim testified during the preliminary hearing. The video surveillance footage also was viewed by Zucker during the hearing.
Using the video surveillance footage detectives
traced the male suspect to a Nissan Altima vehicle seen leaving the parking lot of the complex after the alleged incident and subsequently traced that vehicle, which had an obscured license plate but distinct features such as aftermarket wheels and trunk mounted spoiler, to Powe.
During the investigation, detectives also became aware of two similar alleged incidents that occurred at an apartment complex in mid-November in Cherry Hill, N.J., and involved a similar vehicle with an obscured license plate and a similarly described male, according to court papers.
During an alleged Nov. 14 incident, a woman told police she was walking to her residence and noticed a man standing near a black sedan with the trunk open. As the woman passed the man she said she was “grabbed around her upper body and felt pain in the back of her head” before her attacker fled.
During a Nov. 20 incident, another woman reported she was followed by a male as she entered an elevator at her residence and said the male pulled out a black handgun, pointed it at her and said, “I will not hurt you, but if you scream I will kill you,” according to court documents.
The man, allegedly Powe, took the woman’s purse and shopping bag and escorted her from the elevator to a parked vehicle in a garage and ordered the woman to climb into the vehicle’s trunk, according to court papers. As the victim attempted to flee, the man struck her in the forehead with the firearm which caused her to fall and he then fled the scene, authorities alleged.
Powe faces charges in New Jersey in connection with the alleged Cherry Hill incidents.
Frame and co-prosecutor Gabriella Soreth argued testimony regarding Powe’s subsequent alleged acts in New Jersey should be admissible during the preliminary hearing on charges related to the alleged Lower Merion incident to show intent or “common plan, scheme or design.”
“Evidence showing the intent to kidnap is critical to this case,” Frame argued in court papers, maintaining the alleged New Jersey incidents “best illustrate” Powe’s alleged intent during the Lower Merion incident. “There is no danger of any prejudice to defendant as a result of the court’s admission to show defendant’s intent and common plan, scheme or design.”
Defense lawyer Benjamin Cooper challenged the admissibility of the additional evidence but Zucker ruled in favor of prosecutors and heard testimony from the two victims regarding the alleged New Jersey incidents.
Court documents indicate that during a search of Powe’s home, authorities seized clothing matching the description of the suspect provided by the Lower Merion victim, a roll of clear plastic tape and gloves consistent with those possessed by the suspect in the Lower Merion incident and a socalled “ghost gun.” A ghost gun is a gun that is assembled outside of a factory with various parts so there is no serial number present, authorities explained.
When he was questioned by Lower Merion detectives, Powe denied assaulting the township woman during the alleged Nov. 4 incident. Powe also denied being in New Jersey on Nov. 14 and Nov. 20, according to court papers.
However, prosecutors presented electronics data during the preliminary hearing that placed Powe’s cellphone in the general vicinity of all three alleged incidents during the relevant timeframes.
Authorities alleged Powe has a criminal record that prohibited him from possessing a firearm.
Lower Merion detectives were assisted in the investigation by authorities from Cherry Hill, N.J., and Philadelphia.