Ephrata Police recently charged four Philadelphia area men with burglarizing a vendor’s stand at Green Dragon, 955 North State Street, Ephrata Township.  The vendor reported that, during the early morning hours of September 15, 2019, the storage area of his stand was burglarized and 40 boxes of merchandise valued at $21,000 were stolen.  A video surveillance system captured part of the crime.

On the morning of September 19, 2019, a towing company alerted police that a box truck was stuck in the mud of the retention basin at Green Dragon.  Ephrata police launch an extensive investigation that included locating and identifying four men associated with the box truck, reviewing surveillance video, interviewing acquaintances of the suspects and executing a search warrant.  The investigation revealed that four Philadelphia area men had forced entry to the same stand at Green Dragon, removed boxes of merchandise and staged them outside of the building to be loaded.  Upon moving the truck to the loading area, it became stuck in the mud.  One suspect attempted to contact tow services, while the remainder left the area on foot.

On September 30, 2019, the vendor was able to locate the majority of his property at a stand at a Philadelphia flea market.  Two people that the police had identified as suspects were operating the stand.

Police charged Preston Henley, 51, of Upper Darby with the September 15 burglary.

Police charged Henley, Ibm-Ameen Abdullah, 24, of Upper Darby, Mahdi Jackson, 22, of Philadelphia, and Darryle McNeill Jr., 22, of Philadelphia with the September 19 burglary. 

Henley is currently incarcerated in prison on other charges, Abdullah and Jackson were released on bail, and Ephrata Police hold an arrest warrant for McNeill.  All suspects are presumed  innocent.