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Background: The area near the 3100 block of Meetinghouse Road in Upper Chichester Township, Pennsylvania, where the suspects were allegedly stealing cable wires (Google Maps). Insets (from left to right): Joseph Daniels and Angelina Williams (Upper Chichester Township Police Department).
In Pennsylvania, a couple is facing charges after allegedly abandoning their 4-month-old baby at a crime scene during a theft incident.
The pair, Joseph Daniels, aged 49, and Angelina Williams, aged 32, are facing multiple charges. These include theft by unlawful taking, child endangerment, theft of secondary metal, possession of stolen goods, criminal mischief, conspiracy, and possession of crime instruments, as confirmed by the Upper Chichester Township Police Department. For further details, you can check the official police report.
Additionally, a third individual, Ray Gibase, 47, is also facing similar charges in connection with the incident.
The police report states that around 2:15 a.m. on March 30, the three suspects were allegedly engaged in tampering with cable wires near the 3100 block of Meetinghouse Road in Upper Chichester Township. They were reportedly using a maroon Chrysler 300 and a Jeep Liberty during the operation.
Upon arriving at the scene, officers observed the Chrysler with cable wires sticking out of the open trunk and hand saws visibly placed on the passenger seats. It is alleged that the group was cutting an inactive Verizon cable, according to local news coverage by ABC affiliate WPVI.
“The copper inside the cables is a hot item for the precious metals to be melted down and taken to wherever they can to get pawned,” Upper Chichester Police Department Lt. Christopher Jones told the outlet.
The police department said its officers “secured and towed” the Chrysler to its headquarters and waited for a search warrant to be approved. However, while inspecting it, an officer “observed a baby car seat covered with a blanket. He then noticed movement and discovered an infant inside.”
“Once it was back here, our officers were checking the exterior of the car, and one officer noticed that a blanket in the backseat moved slightly,” Jones said.
Officers went inside and found that the baby boy was “unharmed” and sleeping. He was brought to a local hospital to be looked over.
The three suspects are believed to have driven away in the Jeep as the officers initially arrived at the crime scene. Sometime later, officers with the Aston Police Department stopped the vehicle and found Williams and Gibase inside, as well as a “saw blade under the passenger seat.”
Background: The Upper Chichester Township Police Department headquarters in Aston Township, Pennsylvania (Upper Chichester Township Police Department). Inset: Ray Gibase (Upper Chichester Township Police Department).
“Further investigation determined that the infant”s mother, Angelina Williams, was involved in the cable wire tampering incident,” the Upper Chichester Police Department said. “She was subsequently taken into custody and admitted to her involvement.”
Gibase was released but turned himself in to police on Sunday. Daniels — identified by WPVI as the baby’s father — was driving a maroon Chrysler 300 on Saturday morning with three women inside when troopers pulled him over. “Upon further investigation, Troopers determined that Daniels had an active arrest warrant issued by the Upper Chichester Township Police Department.” He was arrested.
Police did not say whether this was the same Chrysler that they had towed and found the baby inside.
Court records show that all three defendants have appeared for a preliminary arraignment. Williams is scheduled to have a preliminary hearing on Thursday, while Daniels and Gibase are scheduled to have theirs on April 16.
Williams is being held on $100,000 bail, Daniels is being held on $45,000 bail, and Gibase is being held on $50,000 bail.