Teen arrested in area home invasion
Canonsburg police arrested a 17-year-old Canonsburg boy and have obtained an arrest warrant for another suspect in an armed home invasion earlier this month.
Malik Brown, 17, of 29 E. Pitt St., was taken into custody Monday morning. Police also obtained an arrest warrant for Nathaniel Sele, 20, of 101 Valley View Terrace, Canonsburg. Robert Austin Jr., 18, whose last known address was on Findlay Street in Canton Township, was taken into custody shortly after the Sept. 16 burglary.
Canonsburg police Chief Al Coghill said Officer Jonathon Cornell developed a source over the weekend that produced a tip as to Brown’s whereabouts.
Officer Louis Bailey said police got a tip that Brown had just left a residence and was in the area of Greenside Avenue and East Pike Street. Officer Brian DaPra spotted Brown about 8 a.m. crossing Pike and headed toward East Water Street. Brown walked down to North Central Avenue and crossed the bridge onto South Central Avenue. When officers approached and told him he was wanted on a warrant, he allegedly tried to run but was taken into custody. Police said they found him with a small amount of marijuana and Xanax.
On Sept. 16, police were called to a home at 250 N. Central for a reported home invasion involving multiple suspects with a gun. The intruders all wore dark clothing and had their faces covered.
One of the residents, Jodi Smith, told police she was lying on a love seat in the living room when she heard the front door being kicked in. One of the intruders put a gun to her head and demanded to know the whereabouts of her sister.
One of the intruders then went upstairs to the room of Smith’s sister, Dawn Brock. The robber demanded to know where a safe was, but Brock told him there was no safe. Police said he took her purse, which contained $580 and a cellphone.
Brock told police she recognized the voice of one of the intruders as Brown’s. Austin was apprehended in the area by Chartiers Township police with a prescription bottle that reportedly was stolen from the house.
Police said Austin cooperated with them, advising that Sele kicked in the door and had the gun when he entered the house with Brown. Austin reportedly told police he was a lookout and that Brown handed him several things when he came down from the second floor.
“It is a good thing any time you can get someone involved in a home invasion off the street, especially when a gun is involved,” Coghill said. “That makes us feel better.”
All three are charged with seven counts each of aggravated assault, simple assault and reckless endangerment, and one count each of burglary, criminal trespass, conspiracy, firearm violation, receiving stolen property and robbery. Brown was arraigned before District Judge David Mark and placed in Washington County jail on $50,000 bond. Bailey also plans to charge Brown with possession of drugs and resisting arrest stemming from Monday’s incident.
Austin, who initially was taken into custody on a juvenile probation warrant, also is in jail on $50,000 bond. The two are scheduled for a preliminary hearing in Central Court on Oct. 7.
Coghill said Sele is believed to still be in the Canonsburg area and should be considered armed and dangerous. Anyone with information on his whereabouts should call 911.