Credit: Mark H. Anbinder / Flickr.com
The man was known to the woman, who was 'upset and crying' upon police arrival
A man, known to his victims, is facing felony charges after an incident on Tuesday, Dec. 3 inside a Cheltenham home that involved threatening a dog, throwing paint on a car, and extorting funds from a woman in a wheelchair, according to police.
Officers of the Cheltenham Township Police Department reported to the Melrose Park section of the township on Tuesday for the call of a disturbance. Responding officers said that, upon arrival to a residence, they saw the front door open and outer screen door closed and locked.
According to the police criminal complaint, police announced themselves through the screen, and, at that time, a man walked out from the living room. The man was later identified as Malcom Tahj Cadell, 34, of the 5000 block of North Ninth Street, in Philadelphia, according to police.
A wheelchair-bound female homeowner came into the room after Cadell, and was upset and crying, police said. She reported to police, according to the complaint, that the man broke into the home, while the doors were all locked, and came in demanding money.
Though the homeowner knew the man, police said, she said Cadell was grabbing her small dog by its sweater, shaking it, and threatening to hurt the dog if the woman did not give him money. The woman told police that Cadell said he needed $1,000 to pay to get a Philadelphia Parking Authority boot off of his car, said the complaint.
Police said that, when they arrived, Cadell was on the telephone, holding the woman’s debit card in his hand “attempting to make some sort of purchase with the card.” Upon investigation, police found that a rear bedroom’s window to be open, with its blinds “messed up,” in a state the homeowner said was not the case earlier that day, according to the police report.
While speaking to Cadell at the scene, police said he additionally threw paint the homeowner’s car. He was told he was never to return to the home, police said.
Cadell is charged with felony counts of burglary of overnight accommodations with the person present, criminal trespassing by breaking into a structure, as well as charges for theft by extortion via threats to commit another crime and cruelty to animals.
He is held on a $15,000 bail following a preliminary arraignment on Dec. 4. He is to face a preliminary hearing on Dec. 16 before Magisterial District Judge R. Emmett Madden at 10:45 a.m.
