TAYLOR, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Police say they arrested two people after a car crash lead them to suspects involved in a robbery of a UPS Customer Center in Lackawanna County.
According to Taylor Borough Police Department, officers were called to the UPS facility in Stauffer Industrial Park in Taylor for a robbery on Saturday around 4:30 pm.
Police say the caller told them three people had fled the scene and not too long after the suspected car was reported to have crashed near the intersection of Oak Street and Stauffer Industrial Park Road.
Officers said they arrived at the crash and found a girl near the back of the car stating two men ran into the woods and one of them had a gun on him. The girl was also claiming she was robbed at gunpoint by the men and kidnapped, police say.
Investigators stated they located one suspect, Nafesee Lakie, 18, of Upper Darby, and commanded him to get on the ground. The second suspect, Thomas Ballah, 20, Lansdowne, was found by police sitting on a bench at the Taylor Community Center.
As stated in the affidavit, Lakie and Ballah denied being involved in the robbery, and the girl, who is 17 years old, said she and Lakie went into the UPS facility through the side door. After fleeing the scene the girl said she tried grabbing the wheel while Ballah was driving fearing that they were going the wrong way, and that is when the crash occurred.
The girl’s reports of being kidnapped were false when pictures of her and Lakie were found on his phone when police conducted a search, according to court documents.
Lakie and Ballah are being charged with burglary, criminal trespassing, and flight to avoid arrest. Ballah faces the additional charges of reckless driving and corruption of a minor.