3 Philadelphia men charged with robbery in State College

Three Philadelphia-area men face charges in Centre County after an alleged robbery early Monday in Patton Township.

According to Patton Township police, officers were dispatched at about 1:10 a.m. to the 300 block of Fifth Avenue for a disorderly conduct involving two men in the basement of a residence. Officers were advised that one of the men had displayed a handgun and took cash from a wallet, then fled in a silver car.

On arrival, officers were told by the resident that a friend, identified as Namir Dubose, 19, of Philadelphia, had messaged him about hanging out, police said. The resident said Dubose had shown up with a second man he did not know and he let both of them inside.

The unknown man began looking through the resident’s, wallet which was on a table, police said, took the money out and placed it in his pocket. The resident reported thinking it was a joke until the man displayed a black handgun.

The resident immediately ran upstairs and called 911, police said.

The suspects’ vehicle was spotted with three people inside and stopped along North Atherton Street, police said. The driver was identified as Tony J. Fairfax, 20, of Yeadon; one passenger was identified as Dubose, and the other provided the name James Thomas, however police reported they were unable to find a record for that name.

In a followup investigation, the resident provided police with a wallet he found in his residence containing the ID for Achilles A. Watson, 23, of Philadelphia, police said. The resident claimed Watson had been the man who had displayed the handgun.

In an interview at the police station, Fairfax admitted to being part of the robbery, police said, saying he had driven himself and the two others to State College from the Philadelphia area. Fairfax claimed that Dubose had messaged someone by phone saying he could get them drugs.

Fairfax said they had no money, police said, so they drove to the residence with the intent of stealing drugs or money. He claimed he waited outside while the other two went in, fleeing from the scene after they came running outside.

They were stopped on their way back to the residence because Watson had dropped his wallet at the residence, police said. Fairfax also stated he knew one of the other men had a gun, but didn’t know which one or what happened to it.

Watson and Dubose refused to answer questions after being provided Miranda warnings, police said.

All three were arraigned Monday before District Judge Casey McClain, according to court documents. All three were charged with felony counts of robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery along with misdemeanor charges of theft and conspiracy to commit theft. Watson was charged with an additional misdemeanor count of receiving stolen property.

Bail for Watson was set at $50,000 straight, bail for Dubose was set at $25,000 straight and bail for Fairfax was set at 10 percent of $20,000. Watson and Fairfax remain in custody at the Centre County Correctional Facility. Dubose was bounded out of custody Monday.

Preliminary hearings for all three are slated for Feb. 7.

This story was originally published January 30, 2018 at 5:19 PM with the headline "3 Philadelphia men charged with robbery in State College."