A doorbell camera, much like this one pictured, was responsible for capturing an attempting robber, police said. (Credit: Image by freepik)
A Norristown-based boyfriend and girlfriend are facing charges in the matter.
Two Norristown individuals are facing felony charges after a doorbell camera recorded suspicious activity at a home along Ridge Pike in Lafayette Hill.
Maria Isabel Vazquez Piscil, 23, of the 500 block of Walnut Street in Norristown, and her boyfriend, Adam Dixon, 26, of the 700 block of Kohn St., of Norristown are both facing charges after an attempted robbery in Whitemarsh Township, police said. Police were called to a home in the 200 block of Ridge Pike in the Lafayette Hill section of the township for a suspicious activity on Aug. 29 around 1:36 a.m., reports stated.
A homeowner preparing for work said he had a camera alert at 1:32 a.m. from his doorbell camera device showing a male outside his front door wearing a mask, hooded jacket, and glasses, according to police. Officers responding to the scene said they witnessed a Nissan car parked a “short distance” from the door of the home. Inside, reports stated, was Vazquez Piscil in the driver’s seat, though she was seen by police quickly moving to the front passenger’s seat. Police said she appeared to be a “getaway driver” for a man.
Two witnesses provided information to police, according to reports, which supported the video images, though police could not locate the man Vazquez Piscil said she was with at the time. Vazquez Piscil said she came to the area with a friend named “Tony,” police said, but did “not provide much information on why she was there.”
Police said Vazquez Piscil was in possession of two small bags of marijuana and rolling papers, and that she purposefully misled them when questioned. Her phone, per reports, received multiple calls from someone named “Adam,” and police found a money clip with $60 cash and multiple forms of ID for Dixon on the Nissan’s front seat.
After an extensive investigation involving two witnesses, two victims, and cell phone records, police said they were able to track both Vazquez Piscil and Dixon as traveling together that night with the duo’s phones pinging the same cell towers at the same times in the vicinity of the attempted robbery.
Dixon additional left one of the victims threatening voicemails related to terrorizing the victim at his home and workplace, calling to say “you a rat” multiple times, according to reports.
Vazquez Piscil faces charges of a misdemeanor grade including loitering and prowling at night, possession of an instrument of a crime with intent to use it, recklessly endangering another person, statement under penalty, possession of a controlled substance, and use or possession of drug paraphernalia. She also faces felony charges of robbery with a thread of immediate serious injury, burglary over overnight accommodations where a person in present, bodily injury crime.
She was released on a bond signature and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Oct. 23 at 1:15 p.m. before Magisterial District Justice Dara Nasatir.
Dixon faces misdemeanor charges of terroristic threats, with intent to terrorize another person, recklessly endangering another person, possessing an instrument of a crime with intent to use, loitering and prowling at night, and five felony counts including a criminal attempt of robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery involving immediate serious injury, criminal attempt at burglary overnight, conspiracy to commit burglary, and intimidation of a witness or victim to prevent them from reporting.
Dixon is being held in Montgomery County jail unable to post a $100,000 monetary bond. He is due before Nasatir, as well, on Oct. 23 at 1 p.m.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
