Jewelry Store Robbery Suspect Turns Himself In

One of the men wanted in connection with last week’s armed robbery at A.I. Poland Jewelers in Manayunk has turned himself in, police said.  

Raheem Hankerson, 30, whose last known address is 5812 Lampert Street in Philadelphia, gave himself up April 5 at 7 p.m. when he walked into the Northwest Detective Division, said Police Officer Jillian Russell, a department spokeswoman.

Hankerson is alleged to be one of two men who strong-armed business owner Victor Ostroff and a female employee during a late-morning robbery at the longstanding jewelry store at 4347 Main St.

During the course of the robbery, an accomplice of Hankerson pistol-whipped Ostroff, an act requiring seven staples to close the head wound, and used plastic ties to bound Ostroff and the female employee.

The two were bound for 30 to 40 minutes while the two suspects ransacked the store, stealing about $100,000 worth of jewelry and Ostroff’s firearm, police previously stated.

A surveillance video shows the older suspect, who is now believed to have been 43-year-old Anthony Burnett, whose last known residence was on the 2400 block of Nicholas Street, pretending to request assistance from the female employee, before retrieving a gun from his waistband and sticking it in the female employee’s face.

The surveillance video released by police stops at this point, but it is believed that soon after the suspects began to ransack the store and take off, after which Ostroff was able to call for help.

According to police, passersby recall seeing a vehicle flee the scene at a high rate of speed, only to be dumped on the 200 block of Kalos Street. It was here that investigators, after obtaining a search warrant, found a wallet in the vehicle belonging to Hankerson.

Investigators also recovered the jewelry from the vehicle’s trunk; police said the suspects were seen moving the items from the back of the car to the trunk before they abandoned the vehicle.

Russell, the police spokeswoman, said Hankerson is being charged with robbery and a whole host of related offenses.

She would not say how police came to identify Burnett as the second suspect, since that is part of an ongoing investigation.

Anyone with information on Anthony Burnett is asked to call Northwest Detectives at 215-686-3353.