Courts. (Credit: LevittownNow.com)
Lawrence L. Harper III, of the 4200 block of Orchard Street, Philadelphia, was sentenced July 11 in Montgomery County Court
A Philadelphia man who served as the getaway driver in a violent, pre-dawn burglary at a Collegeville Borough jewelry store was sentenced to two to five years in state prison, after a Montgomery County judge called the crime a "smash-and-grab jewelry heist" that devastated a small business and its owner.
Lawrence L. Harper III, 36, of the 4200 block of Orchard Street, was sentenced July 11 by Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Steven T. O’Neill following his conviction for his role in the Feb. 9, 2024 burglary at Sabre’s Fine Jewelry, located on the 400 block of East Main Street in Collegeville.
O’Neill ordered that Harper also share in paying $390,986 in restitution with his three alleged co-conspirators, two of whom have already pleaded guilty, per The Mercury.
“This was a community that was violated,” O’Neill said during sentencing, describing the burglary as a coordinated and destructive attack on a small business, according to the article. “They really went on a spree of just destroying every display case and taking everything out in trash bags.”
Assistant District Attorney Christian Garfield Taffe said Harper played a vital role as the driver, enabling the burglary and evasion of police.
“That’s what the law reflects,” Taffe said in The Mercury. “When you are an integral part and helping a crime be committed, you’re an accomplice and you face the same liability.”
The burglary occurred just after 4:30 a.m. on Feb. 9, when three masked suspects used a hammer to smash display cases inside Sabre’s and cleared out nearly $384,000 in merchandise, according to court documents. More than $6,900 in damages were also inflicted on the store’s interior. Surveillance footage showed the trio using clear trash bags to haul away stolen jewelry. Police later recovered stolen items along the route of a car chase that ended in West Norriton Township.
Responding officers had first spotted a white Nissan Maxima idling nearby with its rear lights turned off. When police attempted a stop, the vehicle fled, prompting a chase across multiple townships. During the pursuit, the suspects tossed jewelry out the windows, police said.
The vehicle was later traced back to Harper, who initially claimed it had been stolen. Investigators, however, uncovered a 14-karat gold earring under the passenger seat and used cell phone records, Instagram messages, and pawn shop transactions to tie Harper and the other defendants to the crime.
Police allege Harper helped fence the stolen jewelry. Surveillance showed Harper and co-defendant Donte Stanley Solomon at Forman’s Pawn Shop in South Philadelphia on Feb. 10, where $9,000 in gold was sold. Harper identified himself as “Toby,” police said.
Harper's defense attorney, George Griffith Jr., told the court that Harper’s actions stemmed from long-standing drug addiction, according to The Mercury.
“That’s why Mr. Harper is here,” Griffith said, adding that the 15 months Harper spent in jail pre-trial may have saved his life.
According to the article, Harper offered a brief apology during sentencing, telling the judge, “I wasn’t thinking right. I had a lot going on in my head. It wasn’t right. I just want to say I’m sorry.”
Two other men, Dartanuall Lomar Cox, 34, of the 5400 block of Market Street, and Donte Stanley Solomon, 33, of the 7700 block of Chelwynde Avenue, both of Philadelphia, previously pleaded guilty to felony burglary. Sentencing is pending in their cases.
A fourth defendant, Lawrence Jainlett Dass, 27, also of Philadelphia, is awaiting trial on related charges.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
