The Bensalem Police Department announced the arrest of a Baltimore man in connection to a armed robbery last month and once again license plate readers (LPR’s) play a major role in tracking one of the two suspect down.
According to a Tuesday press release, the armed robbery occurred on Monday, September 9, 2024. Police responded to Maltese Court in Bensalem. When police arrived, they spoke with the 79-year-old victim, who said she was robbed of her jewelry in front of her home by two subjects in a black SUV. Police reviewed video surveillance that captured the entire incident as it unfolded.
A black Ford Explorer driven by a male pulls into the parking lot in front of the residence, and a female exits the passenger side and calls to the victim. The victim walks from her porch to the vehicle in the parking lot. The victim only speaks Gujarati, a South Asian dialect, and she doesn’t understand what the female says. As the female actor talks, she removes the victim’s jewelry from around her neck and tries to exchange it for fake jewelry the actor brought with her. When the elderly victim resists, the female actor pulls the jewelry from her, gets back in the Ford Explorer, and both subjects flee with two necklaces and a bracelet valued at approximately $15,000., police said.
Bensalem detectives reviewed police intersection cameras and license plate readers (LPR’s) identifying the vehicle as belonging to AVIS Rental Car Company. The cameras also captured the driver of the SUV as it fled the robbery scene . The Ford Explorer was spotted in Bensalem days earlier videos show. On one of those dates, the vehicle pulled up to a Wawa and entering the store which assisted police with identifying the driver as Paul Miclescu, 28 years old, from Landington Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland.
Bensalem detectives and officers from the Baltimore County Police Department went to Miclescu’s listed address – Landington Avenue on september 26. He was detained and had various pieces of jewelry in his possession, but the detectives did not recover any jewelry from the Bensalem robbery. It is believed that he pawned the items for cash somewhere in Maryland, investigators said.
According to police, Miclescu admitted to driving the SUV during the robbery. An arrest warrant was obtained for the Baltimore man, charging him with robbery, theft by unlawful taking, and receiving stolen property.
Miclescu waived extradition to Bucks County, and on Monday, October 7, 2024, the Bucks County Sheriff’s Department transported him from Baltimore, MD, to the Bensalem Township Police Department. He was arraigned by District Judge Falcone on the felony charges and was remanded to the Bucks County Correctional Facility in lieu of 10% of $1,000,000 bail, authorities said. He is scheduled to appear on October 23 for a preliminary hearing.
Bensalem Detectives are actively investigating the female actor’s identity in this robbery, the release said.
‘This is an involved investigation, and Miclescu’s arrest was made possible by the hard work of Bensalem Detectives and the utilization of technology here in Bensalem Township,” authorities said in the press release announcing Miclescu’s arrest.
The department’s use license plate reader technology helped track down a couple who pulled off a series of armed robberies in Lower Bucks County. LPR’s were employed to track the couples movements after they robbed a 7-Eleven on Lincoln Highway in July. Subsequently Lower Bucks Source discovered the couple were allegedly responsible for three more robberies, according too court records documents obtained by this publication. Those cases are still pending in the courts.