Scranton police charged three people following an investigation into an assault and burglary earlier this month at a Capouse Avenue apartment building where a handheld crossbow, replica Civil War sword and other items were taken.
Robert S. Ferguson, 32, David Henry Lawson, 38, and Natalie R. Miller, 37, all with the listed address of 504 New St., face charges related to the incident victim Sean George reported early Jan. 4.
George told city police Patrolman Andrew Hudak — who had just recently spoken with George at the apartment building before leaving for another call — that he was subsequently assaulted by multiple assailants who broke in to his apartment and took his things. He identified one of the assailants as Lawson, noting Lawson struck him with hammer, Hudak wrote in an charging documents.
Hudak, who was already familiar with Lawson, advised other police units to check the area. He also advised officers to check the area of 504 New St., knowing that to be where Lawson “sometimes goes to see a friend,” Ferguson, who goes by “Chloe,” per an affidavit of probable cause.
During his investigation, Hudak spoke with another resident of the apartment building, Francis “Frank” Julian, who said he was sleeping when he heard a commotion and George screaming. Julian told Hudak he looked into the hallway and saw three people, one of whom he identified as Chloe, who was with a man and woman.
Hudak then spoke to George again in an ambulance, where he was being assessed by emergency medical services personnel who noted numerous marks and other apparent injuries. George told the patrolman that another man named Nicholas Reed “punched him in the throat with hard-knuckle gloves” and that he may have lost consciousness during the assault, according to charging documents. It did not appear that anyone by that name had been charged in connection with the incident as of Tuesday.
Asked about other involved parties, George gave the name “Ashley” — the woman was later identified as Miller, police said — but did not have other information to provide about her, charging documents note.
A yellow backpack, web cam, replica Civil War sword, handheld crossbow and the hammer used in the assault were taken from George’s residence, he told Hudak.
George had previously called 911 on the morning of Dec. 30 and said someone was attempting to break into his room, identifying that person as Lawson. He called again later that day to report that Lawson, a male and a female were on scene and that he was fearful, the affidavit notes. George said they tried to corner him outside, but they were gone when officers arrived.
He also texted 911 about other incidents, twice on Jan. 2, once on Jan. 3 and again at about 12:22 a.m. on Jan. 4. That last incident is the one Hudak responded to before leaving and being called back to the location about 12:59 a.m. for the reported assault that occurred in the intervening time, police said.
George told police the assailants arrived about 10 minutes after Hudak left the first time. He heard a knock on his door, “thought he recognized Chloe’s arm” and opened the door, at which point Chloe (Ferguson) and the other people entered his room, attacked him and stole belongings, per the charging documents.
Several days later, early on the morning of Jan. 8, another officer contacted Hudak and said he was working a separate “burglary/robbery/assault” case and that the suspects may be connected to the earlier incident.
Yet another officer contacted Hudak later that morning and advised that items George had reported stolen were located with the suspects of the more-recent incident.
“The victim identified all parties by name and/or description and known nickname,” Hudak wrote in charging documents.
Police ultimately recovered the hammer, sword and crossbow from 504 New St.
Lawson and Miller face numerous charges stemming from three criminal incidents reported over the course of roughly last month. Lawson, for example, faces felony burglary, aggravated assault, robbery and criminal trespassing counts and a trio of misdemeanor theft counts stemming from the Jan. 4 episode. Miller faces a felony count of burglary and misdemeanor count of simple assault for her alleged role, per an online docket sheet. Ferguson is charged with felony counts of burglary and criminal trespassing.
All three remained in Lackawanna County Prison as of Tuesday, the prison confirmed.