MIDDLETOWN — Police have charged six men in connection to the robbery of a Middletown grocery store on Dec. 18, 2017.
The robbers stole $950 worth of cigarettes and cigars from the Karns store on 101 S. Union St., police say.
Three men were charged with committing the actual robbery, while two others were charged for their involvement in the conspiracy, police say.
Charged with committing the break-in were:
- Dalton Kramer, 20, of Middletown: charged with burglary, theft by unlawful taking, and criminal mischief
- Joseph Lonnie Lee, 19, of Hummelstown: charged with conspiracy to commit burglary, burglary, theft by unlawful taking, criminal mischief, and criminal trespass-breaking into a structure.
- Tariq Jackson, 18, of Hummelstown: charged with conspiracy to commit burglary, burglary, theft by unlawful taking, criminal mischief, and criminal trespass-breaking into a structure.
Also charged were:
- Ivan Fowler, 25, of New Cumberland: charged with burglary, conspiracy to commit burglary, theft by unlawful taking, criminal mischief, and criminal trespass-breaking into a structure
- Frederick Lynn Maines, 22, of Hummelstown: charged with conspiracy to commit burglary, burglary, theft by unlawful taking, criminal mischief, and criminal trespass-breaking into a structure.
Fowler is accused of driving the getaway vehicle, while Maines was a passenger in the front seat. Maines used to live in Middletown, and knew the area, police say. He allegedly told the three men who committed the robbery where to go and how they should leave, according to police.
Another man, George Anthony Spaseff, 19, of Hummelstown, was charged with receiving stolen property, police say.
According to police, the conspirators drove to Spaseff’s residence to divide up the stolen cigarettes and cigars.
Jackson served as a lookout during the robbery, while Lee and Kramer broke into the store, police say. Kramer is accused of using a tire iron to smash the glass panels of a rear exit door to get inside, according to police.
Kramer and Lee then entered the store, filled a backpack with the cigarettes and cigars, and left through the same rear door. Kramer allegedly cut his left leg as he left, leaving blood on the broken glass, according to police.
The two men, along with Jackson, then ran to a nearby shopping center parking lot, where Fowler and Maines waited in a vehicle.
Police, who were dispatched to the store when a store alarm went off, recovered the tire iron used to break the glass at the scene, according to the criminal complaint.
On Jan. 11, police say, they were contacted by a man who said Kramer was bragging about the robbery and trying to sell the stolen cigarettes and cigars. The man said he recognized Kramer from surveillance footage released after the robbery.
Kramer is behing held in Dauphin County Prison on $25,000 bail.
Jackson and Lee in prison in New Jersey. They were arrested there for armed robbery, police say.
Folmer was released from Dauphin County Prison on $20,000 bail.
Maines is being held in Dauphin County Prison on $50,000 bail.
Spaseff, who was evicted shortly after Dec. 18, is now in Lebanon County Prison after having been arrested and charged for an unrelated robbery, according to police.
