Two men were charged in connection with robbing a 12-year-old Florence Township boy of his bicycle.
By: Scott Morgan
FLORENCE Two men were charged in connection with the gunpoint robbery of a 12-year-old township boy Monday afternoon.
According to police, the boy had been riding his bike along the 200 block of West Second Street, near the Marcella L. Duffy School around 3:30 p.m., when two men in a white, 1990 Pontiac 600-G pulled up beside him. Police said the passenger pointed an 8 mm handgun at the boy and took the bike, putting it in the trunk; the car then was seen heading west through the township, police said.
Police said detectives soon found the car parked outside a residence on the 700 block of West Second Street, where the two men had gone. Officers also discovered that the Pontiac had been reported stolen from Philadelphia, as had a second car parked at the house, a 1993 Oldsmobile Silhouette, police said.
Police charged 18-year-old Brian Simpkins of Philadelphia with possession of a weapon, two counts of receiving stolen property and possession of drug paraphernalia (glassine baggies). Tyron Johnson, 20, of West Second Street, was charged with robbery, receiving stolen property, theft and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Police said the gun was not loaded when recovered at the house.
Mr. Simpkins was held at the Burlington County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail; Mr. Johnson was held there in lieu of $35,000 bail.