Lower Salford Police Photo by James Short.
A Norristown man and another accomplice, Lower Salford Township Police allege, burglarized a home on the 600 block of Cressman Road last week, but never made off with their bounty of two handguns and jewelry, due to the homeowner catching them on her security cameras.
Tyrone Griffin, 37, of the 700 block of Violet Street, was charged and arraigned July 2 with two felony counts each of burglary and criminal trespassing, felony theft by unlawful taking, a misdemeanor count of possessing an instrument of crime, two misdemeanor counts each of criminal mischief by tampering with property, and misdemeanor resisting arrest, according to court records.
Griffin is free on $50,000 bond posted the same day as his arraignment before Magisterial District Judge Adam T. Katzman, per court records.
According to an affidavit, the homeowner called police for a burglary in progress at 3:54 p.m. July 1 after her phone alerted her to movement inside her home via surveillance cameras, which showed two men inside and a black pickup truck in the driveway.
Upon police arrival, a man dressed in all black, alleged to be Griffin, ran across the backyard from the rear of the home, crossed a tree line and headed south on a neighboring property, police said. Police pursued Griffin, who gave up and laid on the ground, where he was handcuffed and searched, police said.
A black balaclava, a pair of green work gloves with the thumb missing on one of them, and two sets of key fobs for a car were found on Griffin, per the complaint.
Police formed a perimeter around the home and requested K-9 to assist in a search. Police found a 12-foot ladder leaning against the second-floor balcony, per the affidavit. At the bottom of the ladder, police found a glass punch and a green glove thumb, police said.
A glass patio door on the second floor of the home was smashed to provide entry, according to the report. Limerick Township Police K-9 arrived at the scene and cleared the home.
Police said a second suspect was not found in the home.
The master bedroom, police said, which was accessed via a second-floor balcony, was completely ransacked – every dresser drawer was pulled out, rummaged through and overturned, the mattress and boxsprings were flipped off the bed frame, the bathroom vanity was ransacked, and both closets were torn apart.
Police allege Griffin and his accomplice pulled the drywall off the studs around a wall safe in an attempt to remove it.
When the homeowners arrived, they showed police video of a black Ford F-150 pulling into the driveway in the afternoon and a man exiting it wearing an Amazon shirt, a black mask, and carrying a box, police said. The man approached the front door and then left the home.
A few moments later, police said two men carrying a 12-foot folding ladder approached the house from the southern direction. One man was wearing all black with his face covered with a mask, and the second man was wearing a gray jacket and black pants with his face covered, police said.
The homeowners told police they were missing two handguns – a Glock 19X and a Smith & Wesson .38 Special – and multiple pieces of jewelry, including a gold and diamond pendant, per the complaint.
Then, one of the homeowners found a luggage bag that she did not own in the bedroom. Inside, police said, were the guns and the jewelry.
Shortly after, a neighbor called 911 to report a black F-150 parked in her driveway, police said. Officers responded to the home and found the truck was registered to Tehron Green; it was towed to police headquarters pending a search warrant, police said.
The keys found on Griffin opened the doors to the truck, and inside the truck police said, was a box on the passenger seat similar to the one that was carried to the front door in the surveillance video, per the complaint.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 17 at 2:30 p.m. before Katzman.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
