4 in custody for attempted armed robbery at Brookhaven Walgreens

Walgreens robbery
Photo credit Dan Wing/KYW Newsradio
UPDATED: 5:25 p.m.
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DELAWARE COUNTY, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Police intercepted four men who tried to rob a Brookhaven Walgreens early Thursday morning.

Around 4:30 a.m., police responded to a reported robbery in progress at the store, located on the corner of Edgemont Avenue and East Brookhaven Road.

Jonathan Jones, Derrick Ross, Lorenzo Ross, and Derek Stevens, all from the Washington, D.C. area, ordered a store employee at gunpoint to open the safe in the pharmacy where the narcotics were kept.

They were demanding an employee to open the registers at the front of the store when police arrived. Delaware County District Attorney Kat Copeland said the men ran to the back of the store. Jones grabbed an employee and turned him toward one of the officers.

“Believing the witness was in imminent danger, the officer shot Jones in the arm,” said Copeland, noting it appeared to be a justified use of force. 

Now investigators are looking through a car parked behind the store believed to have been used by the robber/robbers https://t.co/EXnFNahVc6 pic.twitter.com/ACCeizkt9d

— Dan Wing (@dwingReports) June 6, 2019

Car was just towed from the scene here in Brookhaven, and Crime Scene Unit has left. Still no official info from police @KYWNewsradio pic.twitter.com/eCVvO3M0Dq

— Dan Wing (@dwingReports) June 6, 2019

Investigators spent about four hours on the scene. A sedan with Washington license plates that was parked on a small street behind the store was towed from the area by investigators.

Jones was taken to the hospital, and the three others were taken into custody. 

Copeland credits a quick response from Brookhaven police and witnesses in the store who called 911.

“Incredibly brave witnesses who literally were reporting what was going on as it was happening,” she added.

Copeland said it's not yet clear why the men tried to rob a store in Delaware County.

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KYW Newsradio's Dan Wing and Jim Melwert contributed to this report.