Police: Accused and an accomplice stopped in Montgomery County on multi-state crime spree

        At a preliminary hearing Friday, Judge Catherine Hummel-Fried of Red Hill District Court ruled charges of robbery, theft and terroristic threats would be held for county court against Chad Hedglin, 28, of the 100 block of Church Street in Eynon. 

        Hedglin and an unnamed accomplice are accused of a bold, daytime robbery at the CVS at 290 Pottstown Ave. in Pennsburg Oct. 5, 2012.

        According to police, the men entered the store around 3:20 p.m. and handed an 18-year-old female cashier a note demanding cash. The note indicated that the pair were armed and would shoot if she didn’t comply. 

Other customers were reportedly inside the store at the time of crime.

        The criminal complaint said the woman eventually opened her cash drawer and sat it on the counter.  The men reportedly removed approximately $92 before fleeing to a black Jeep Cherokee.  The Jeep was parked near Pennsburg Auto Body on Railroad Street.

        During the hearing the cashier testified she didn’t immediately realize she was being robbed.

        “I saw two men walk into the store and they headed to the pharmacy but then they kept looking at me so I stayed at the counter,” she said, noting they had their hats pulled down and heads down.  She testified the men had a candy bar and a piece of paper and put them down on the counter.

        “I greeted them and he said, ‘Hand it over.’  I was confused.  I thought the piece of paper was a coupon so I didn’t really look at it.  He said, ‘Hand over the money because he would shoot me.’”

        The cashier went on to testify she told the pair she couldn’t get the money out but was ordered to ring up the candy bar to open the drawer. 

        When asked by the prosecutor, Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Stewart Ryan, on her emotional state, the woman said while she was “calm the whole time,” it was fair to say she was shocked and scared. 

        Upper Perk Police Det. Matthew Boaman took the stand and testified the demand note said, “We have guns.  Calmly hand over money.  Will shoot.” 

        The demand note, the Kit-Kat candy bar and the cash drawer were all analyzed for fingerprints by the PA State Police crime lab in Bethlehem, Boaman said, which matched the fingerprints to Hedglin. 

        Hedglin’s fingerprints were the only ones on the evidence, Boaman testified.

        According to court documents, a witness from the Pennsburg crime got the registration of the vehicle used in the robbery, which was stolen from Lackawanna County.  That registration eventually also led authorities to Hedglin and his accomplice.

        Hummel-Fried heard a motion by Hedglin’s attorney, public defender James Corsetti Jr. of Harleysville, to have the evidence in the case dismissed because there was no visual of his client that clearly identified him during the robbery, but that motion was denied by the judge.

        Hedglin, who is currently serving a 6- to 15-month sentence in Graterford Correctional Facility for a November 2012 robbery in Milford, Pike County, was remanded to custody. 

        Hummel-Fried set bail at $10,000, noting the defendant was already incarcerated.

        Hedglin is scheduled to appear in Montgomery County Court July 31 at 9:30 a.m. to be formally arraigned.