Authorities charge Philadelphia man with 15 counts of robbery for home invasions near Temple

Authorities charged a 25-year-old Philadelphia man with 15 counts of robbery for his alleged involvement in a spate of home-invasion robberies near Temple University’s campus.

Police arrested Nasir Johnson, 25, on the 4900 block of Royal Street on Monday at 7:40 p.m. after officers spotted him getting into a car that had been stolen last month. Upon investigation, police said they found evidence that pegged Johnson as one of the alleged robbers in two of three home invasions that occurred near Temple over the last two weeks.

In a statement, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said that his office would be requesting Johnson be held on $6 million bail.

For the car theft and two home-invasion robberies near Temple, Johnson was charged with a litany of crimes, including 15 counts each of robbery, burglary, kidnapping, and simple assault, Krasner’s office said in a statement. He was also charged with two counts of unauthorized use of an automobile.

In 2020, Johnson pleaded guilty to charges including aggravated assault, arson, trespassing, and theft, according to court records. The details of those cases were not immediately clear. The records say he then was sentenced to 11½ to 23 months in jail, followed by two years’ probation.

Over a two-week period, there have been three home invasions with a similar modus operandi near Temple’s campus. In all of the home invasions, the suspects brandished guns and there were no injuries, police said. Temple students were always among the victims of the robberies.

“These home invasion robberies put multiple young people in danger and terrorized the surrounding community,” Krasner said in a statement.

» READ MORE: Philly colleges don’t have to report all crimes that happen near campus. Should that law change?

Temple’s vice president of public safety, Jennifer D. Griffin, said in a statement she hoped Johnson’s arrest would offer some comfort to victims of the robberies that transpired near the university.

“The men and women of Public Safety and the Philadelphia Police Department are committed to keeping our communities safe. We are extremely proud of the hard work and dedication of the police officers and detectives whose tireless efforts helped put this case together,” Griffin said in the statement.

Police linked Johnson to two of the home invasions after they saw him getting into a stolen Lexus. After the car that was stolen Oct. 11 was seen on Royal Street on Nov. 15, police set up surveillance and took Johnson into custody Monday, police said. Police found a debit card and two Apple watches that had been stolen in a home invasion Monday.

That most recent robbery, for which Johnson is a suspect, happened Monday at 6:18 a.m., when two men broke into a house on the 1900 block of North 18th Street, police said. At gunpoint, the suspects woke the four victims and forced them to unlock their phones and disable security settings before getting away with iPhones and other electronics, a handgun, and the keys to a 2022 Mitsubishi, authorities said. The suspects used the stolen car to drive away, police said.

One of the four victims was a Temple student, a Temple spokesperson said. The stolen Mitsubishi was later found abandoned on 19th Street, authorities said.

Johnson was also charged in a second robbery this month, shortly before 6 a.m. Nov. 11, where two men, including Johnson, were let into a house on the 1300 block of North 15th Street where 11 people were inside, some of them sleeping, authorities said.

All 11 people were Temple students and the suspects woke them up and forced them into the basement at gunpoint, police said. There, the suspects also made the 11 people unlock their phones and disable security settings, according to Krasner’s office. The suspects made away with debit and credit cards, cell phones, cash, and the keys to a 2015 Lincoln MKZ, police said.

The suspects in that incident also used the stolen car to drive away from the scene, police said. Surveillance footage at a Sunoco gas station showed Johnson and another unidentified suspect going inside a convenience store and making transactions using the stolen debit cards, Krasner’s office said.

One of the stolen phones was also used to make a Cash App payment to an account that investigators discovered belonged to Johnson’s girlfriend or associate, the office said. The stolen Lincoln was found by Philadelphia police on the 100 block of Logan Street and detectives were able to uncover information that tied Johnson and another suspect to the Lexus that was stolen in October, authorities said.

The home invasions have exacerbated concerns among students, faculty, and parents about the safety of Temple’s North Philadelphia campus.

In October, Temple issued 10 alerts for shots fired, shootings, and armed robberies near campus. And last year, Temple student Samuel Collington was shot and killed just outside his off-campus residence.

In response to the home invasions, Temple had increased patrols in the area, said Griffin, Temple’s vice president of public safety.

Staff writersChris Palmer and Susan Snyder contributed to this article.