2 suspects in robbery captured
It may have been a case of dumb luck for police.
But for a pair of Butler men suspected in a robbery gone wrong that left the intended target with a gunshot wound, it was just plain dumb.
The suspected robbers, both looking at a list of felony charges including attempted first-degree murder and the subjects of an intense police manhunt in connection with Saturday's shooting in Evans City, apparently didn't try much of a getaway.
Instead, authorities said, they headed back to their hometown, where they are easily recognized by friends and foes and by their hometown police department.
And instead of separating, they stayed together.
That's where and how Butler police found them.
Today, the duo — Jahote C. Dorsey Jr., 21, and Joshua D. Norris, 30 — are still together, in the Butler County Prison.
The men, according to Evans City-Seven Fields Regional Police, teamed up Saturday night in a plan to rob Oliver Philogene at his apartment on East Main Street.
They came armed with a 9 mm pistol, intending to steal drugs, police said.
They apparently counted on the element of surprise. They apparently didn't count on the 21-year-old Philogene fighting back.
When Norris allegedly held the pistol to the victim's head and Dorsey barked the command, “Just shoot him,” Philogene grabbed the weapon, court documents said. The gun went off, hitting him in the right forearm.
Dorsey high tailed it out while Norris struggled with the not-no-easy target. Philogene soon had control of the gun, and Norris ran off, too.
Police only learned of the shooting after Philogene, on his own, showed up shortly before 8 p.m. at UPMC Passavant hospital in Cranberry Township. An emergency room nurse notified authorities.
Before being transferred to UPMC Presbyterian hospital in Pittsburgh, Philogene spoke to officers, said Evans City-Seven Fields Regional Police Chief Joe McCombs. Investigators immediately had one suspect, but no more.
“He knew Dorsey, but not the shooter,” McCombs said in recounting Philogene's brief interview with police.
Several hours of investigative work later, police prepared charges against Dorsey. In turn, District Judge Sue Haggerty issued police an arrest warrant for the defendant.
Investigators sought any clues that might reveal his accomplice's identity.
McCombs said his officers talked to Butler police, knowing they would know of Dorsey's haunts and hangouts, accomplices and abetters.
“Our guys are well acquainted with him,” said Butler Deputy Police Chief David Adam.
That outside help would soon pay off, big time.
City officers simultaneously hunted Dorsey and put the word out that he was a wanted man. Eventually, their search produced a call Tuesday afternoon.
“We got an anonymous tip that led us to a house on Bredin Avenue,” Adam said. The caller, who sounded credible, told police they could find Dorsey at that house.Knowing of the events and circumstances Saturday, police dispatched a full squad, four officers, to make the house call.“There's safety in numbers,” Adam noted.A 55-year-old woman answered the 2:48 p.m. police knock at the door of the Bredin Avenue home where she lives in an apartment. The officers explained they were there to look for Dorsey.The woman's response struck police as odd — but promising.“She said Norris was there but she wouldn't let Dorsey in,” Adam said. He did not know what, if any, relationship the woman had with either suspect.But she let police into her home. They located Dorsey, a big find, who was immediately arrested on the Evans City-Seven Fields warrant. Officers also found Norris, initially no big deal, police acknowledged.“We got who we came for,” Adam said, “and it just looked like Norris was there.”In keeping with routine protocol, officers ran Norris' name through the crime database and got a hit. He, too, it turned out, was wanted by state police on an unrelated warrant for furnishing alcohol to minors in September.Police needed a second set of handcuffs, these for Norris. But neither Butler nor Evans City-Seven Fields police would know what a big catch he was until later that day.City officers processed both men and took them to the county prison.Anxious to question Dorsey, Evans City-Seven Fields police wasted little time before talking with him. McCombs would not disclose what he told investigators.“He gave a statement,” said McCombs, and nothing else.His statement apparently was helpful because later that day, Philogene, now out of the hospital and recovering from his injuries, was summoned to the station by Evans City-Seven Fields police.Investigators wanted him to look at a photograph array, hoping he would recognized the man who shot him. Among the set of six photographs that he looked at was one of Norris.McCombs would not say what prompted police to put Norris' photograph in the lineup.However, Philogene did not hesitate in pointing his finger at Norris' picture.By video at 9:55 p.m., Haggerty arraigned Dorsey on charges of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder of the first degree, aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, and robbery, all felonies.Due to the seriousness of the charges, he is being held without bail.Jailed on the state police warrant, Norris also was placed on a 48-hour hold as authorities continue to investigate the events leading up to the shooting.He will be charged with the same crimes as Dorsey, McCombs vowed.Police in Evans City-Seven Fields and Butler are still reflecting on the bit of good fortune that landed Norris behind bars.“We went down there looking for one,” Adam said, “and found the other.”“A bit lucky,” McCombs admitted.
