An elderly couple walking toward the H-Mart grocery store in Upper Darby on Friday were robbed by a man who grabbed the wife's purse and dragged her along the sidewalk, before a passer-by chased the attacker down and recovered the stolen items. Police officers responded to the 7000 block of Terminal Square at 11:50 a.m. Friday, where they found one of the victims suffering scrapes and abrasions from the attack.
According to the Delco Times, the attacker removed the husband's wallet, which contained $80, from his pants pocket before turning on the wife and grabbing her purse. A witness who saw the assault confronted the suspect, then chased him in a vehicle as he fled through an alley toward Garrett Road, cutting him off before he could get away. The witness recovered the couple's purse and wallet during the confrontation, the outlet reported.
The H-Mart the couple had been walking toward sits at 7050 Terminal Square, part of a dense commercial corridor that surrounds SEPTA's 69th Street Transit Center, a regional hub connecting the Market-Frankford Line, the Norristown High Speed Line, trolley routes 101 and 102, and multiple bus lines near the Philadelphia border. The heavy foot traffic generated by thousands of daily commuters passing through the terminal makes Terminal Square one of the busiest pedestrian corridors in Upper Darby.
Suspect Turned Himself In After Seeing His Photo Online
Police reviewed surveillance video from the area and identified 47-year-old Keith G. Brinson, of the 5000 block of Diamond Street, as a suspect, according to the same report. Investigators posted images of the attacker to social media, showing him holding the victim's purse, and asked the public for help identifying him.
The tactic worked quickly. The suspect called the police station after learning he was being sought on social media, and when officers arrived, he identified himself in the surveillance still images and admitted he was the man they were looking for. Police gave him a ride to headquarters, where Upper Darby Police Superintendent Timothy Bernhardt said the suspect confirmed he was the man sought in the case, per the Delco Times account.
Brinson was charged with multiple counts of robbery, simple assault, theft and receiving stolen property. He was taken to Delaware County prison after failing to post bail, which District Judge Elizabeth S. Gallard set at 10 percent of $75,000 — meaning Brinson needed $7,500 in cash to secure his release, a standard cash-deposit option allowed under Pennsylvania court rules. He remains held at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility in Thornton, the county's primary correctional institution for pretrial detainees, ahead of an Aug. 27 preliminary hearing before District Judge Benjamin Johns.
Charges Carry Enhanced Penalties for Crimes Against Elderly Victims
Under Pennsylvania law, robbery involving physical force or bodily injury is graded as a felony carrying statutory maximum penalties ranging from 7 to 20 years in state prison. Because the victims in this case were elderly, state sentencing statutes also allow for enhanced penalty considerations when violent crimes or thefts target victims aged 60 or older, giving courts specific authority to increase penalties in such cases.
Bernhardt, a 28-year law enforcement veteran who took permanent leadership of the department after being appointed interim superintendent in November 2019, thanked the good Samaritan who intervened to help the victims. He said crime in Upper Darby Township will result in arrest, charges and prosecution.
The case adds to a string of robbery investigations the department has handled recently. Upper Darby Police were also hunting a duo in a gunpoint heist on Clover Lane earlier this year, and the department investigated a separate robbery and firearm case that led to indictments spanning three counties. The Upper Darby Police Department expanded to 138 officers as of December, maintaining the largest municipal police force in Delaware County, as the township of roughly 85,400 residents — Pennsylvania's sixth-most populous municipality — continues to see its busy commercial and transit corridors draw both shoppers and crime.
