Torin Myer (Photo from Philadelphia Police Department)
Police have charged a 23-year-old man in connection with the recent string of armed robberies at two Green Line Cafe locations and the Chipotle Mexican Grill near 39th and Walnut.
Torin Myer of the 3900 block of Baring Street was apprehended early yesterday near 34th and Hamilton, a few blocks from the Drexel University campus. Police said he is not a student.
Police say Myer was exiting a convenience store and getting on a bicycle near 34th and Hamilton when Drexel University police Captain Fred Carbonara apprehended him. Myer had a BB gun, a knife, gloves and ski mask in his possession. Carbonara recognized Myer from the surveillance video made public last week.
“We had the area saturated yesterday,” said Detective Joe Murray from the Southwest Detectives. “There was no way he was going to be able to walk around without getting caught. Just wish we had him sooner.”
Murray said Myer confessed to all four robberies.
Myer lived about four blocks from the Green Line Cafe at 3649 Lancaster Ave., which police say he robbed on April 30 and again on May 4. He is charged with robbery, assault and weapons charges in connection to those two robberies, one on April 26 at the Green Line Cafe near 45th and Locust and the May 6 robbery at the Chipotle Mexican Grill at 3925 Walnut St.
Police say Myer suffered from a “drug problem,” which in part explained his motives in the robberies.
He is scheduled to be arraigned later today.
May 9th, 2012 at 11:09 am
Innocent until proven guilty. But, I hope this is the guy and that this is over. I had a feeling this guy would live close to the places he robbed. He was obviously not a smart thief picking businesses which would not have that much cash on the premises and which were within short walking distance from where he lived. Good job to the Drexel University police for apprehending him!
May 9th, 2012 at 11:22 am
wow, WTG, Drexel U.PD!
May 9th, 2012 at 11:36 am
Daily Pennsylvanian states that he’s confessed to the three at the Green Line as well as the Chipotle. Welcome to 5 years, pal.
May 9th, 2012 at 11:39 am
@Happy, Police have not confirmed a confession and The DP is using a Drexel administrator as a source on that. We’re trying to be cautious with this whole thing.
May 9th, 2012 at 12:08 pm
Check that. Just confirmed the confession.
May 9th, 2012 at 6:01 pm
This is a lot more sad and a lot less interesting than some kind of bizarre vendetta against hipster snack places. 🙁
May 9th, 2012 at 9:31 pm
Seems like he didn’t take much care to conceal himself, and probably knew he would soon be caught. They are signs of an addiction motivated crime, and perhaps a desire to be caught and stop the cycle. Some people are still alive today because they landed in prison, and didn’t spend anymore time on the streets, using. Prison often ends up being our defacto mental health and drug/alcohol system. Under this system the police perform the intervention, yet they are not really trained or supported for this role.
May 9th, 2012 at 10:05 pm
Uh, sad? This dude is an asshole who terrorized the neighborhood with weapons. I hope he gets a fair trial that yields several deserved years in prison.
May 9th, 2012 at 10:06 pm
Gina: if he had a drug problem, he was motivated by desperation. That’s always sad.
May 10th, 2012 at 8:39 am
@gina, If you know he ‘deserves’ several years in prison, then why do you care if he has a fair trial? I don’t think you understand the purpose of a trial.
May 10th, 2012 at 9:13 am
@Philly.Joe.C Great comment, thank you for that, I was thinking the same thing when I heard about all of this and it’s sad, but true. Hope he can realize the chance he’s been given to recover and get better.
May 10th, 2012 at 9:47 am
Living inside of a Victor Hugo novel is always sad. I’ve never had to do it and I hope I never have to.
May 10th, 2012 at 3:24 pm
Compassion is probably the most important thing… ever? But still I am a little surprised at the reactions here. Why are people allowed to be more outraged at Subway than at a real neighborhood terror?
In hindsight, of course knowing that the “black semi-automatic handgun” may have been a BB gun makes the whole thing seem more pathetic, but the fear (set aside the monetary damage) this guy caused at the time was real. I think it is appropriate for other emotions to outweigh empathy once someone has crossed a certain line.
I hope he both gets the help he needs and is appropriately punished, whether or not those are two separate things.
May 12th, 2012 at 6:47 pm
Before we “throw away the key” – which I don’t get to be the sentiment of this thread – I am reminded that Malcolm Little went to prison for burglary, receiving stolen goods, and I’m uncertain just what else. He came out of prison as Malcolm X after converting to Islam while in prison. He became a great leader for the cause of Justice for black people in America, and then to everyone who suffers oppression. He never justified what he did, but he didn’t let it define him: Be careful not to do the same with this guy.
May 16th, 2012 at 11:20 am
I knew this guy in high school in Forest City PA. He was not disadvantaged, but he was always kind of headed this way. He chose this. I hope he gets help, but this isn’t a poor street waif. He has a twin brother with a great job who has done well for himself.
May 16th, 2012 at 2:13 pm
@ BigJ “He chose this. I hope he gets help, but this isn’t a poor street waif.”
My guess is that you don’t really understand what drugs can do.
May 16th, 2012 at 6:57 pm
I’m not saying that he isn’t responsible for what he did. I’m just saying it’s sad. It would be sad even if he came from a wealthy and privileged background. It doesn’t matter (to me) what the backstory is–any time someone gets so addicted to drugs that they are willing to turn to robbery to feed their addiction, that is sad.
He’s been caught. I assume he will go to prison. What is the point of being outraged at this point?