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News Of Delaware County > News
[h=1]Man faces trial for ripping off woman's casino winnings[/h][h=2][/h]Wednesday, May 25, 2016
By Rose Quinn
UPPER DARBY >> A man charged in the May 14 theft of a Secane woman’s $6,692 casino winnings is headed for trial on robbery and related offenses as part of a negotiated waiver presented Tuesday in district court.
Gary Taylor, 37, of Philadelphia, was held on two robbery offenses, as well as theft by unlawful taking and fleeing or attempting to elude police, all felonies; two misdemeanor simple assault offenses; and reckless driving and driving with a suspended or revoked license, both summary offenses.
Charges of receiving stolen property, a felony; and careless driving, stop sign and red-light violations, all summary offenses, were withdrawn as part of the negotiated waiver, according to a court clerk.
Delaware County Assistant District Attorney Jessica R. Conley represented the commonwealth and Janice V. Benante of the Delaware County Public Defender’s Office represented Taylor during the proceedings in Magisterial District Judge Kelly A. Micozzie-Aguirre’s courtroom.
Taylor stands accused of following the 59-year-old from Harrah’s Philadelphia Casino and Racetrack in Chester, to her residence in Secane - with a brief stop in between at a supermarket, Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said at the time of Taylor’s arrest.
“As she was getting out of her car in front of her house, she had groceries in one arm and her winnings in her handbag in the other,” Chitwood said. “She was approached and shoved to the ground. Her handbag was taken from her.”
Upper Darby police were dispatched to the Secane neighborhood about 10 p.m. on May 14.
The woman told police what happened and provided a description of the perpetrator’s getaway vehicle. The information was immediately broadcast over the police radio.
A Clifton Heights police officer spotted a vehicle matching the description. He subsequently proceeded to stop a silver 2002 Volvo station wagon at Baltimore Pike, near Eldon Avenue, in Lansdowne, Chitwood previously stated. The officer spoke to the driver - later identified as Taylor - and saw a woman’s handbag on the floor of the car.
It was at that point that Taylor sped off, according to Chitwood. There was a brief car chase, at the end of which Taylor bailed from the station wagon and made an unsuccessful attempt to run on foot. He was surrounded by police and taken into custody.
The victim was brought to the scene where she identified Taylor as the man who knocked her to the ground and snatched her handbag.
The woman’s winnings were all recovered – 66 $100 bills; four $20 bills; one $10 bill; and two $1 bills.
According to Chitwood, Taylor had stuffed the bills in his groin area.
Taylor is being held at the county prison in lieu of $75,000 cash bail. At the time of his arrest, he was also wanted for a parole violation stemming from a robbery conviction in Philadelphia, according to Chitwood.
An attempt to reach Benante for comment on her client’s behalf was unsuccessful.