74-Year-Old Burdick's Robber May Spend Life in Jail

A 74-year-old Hatboro man with a lengthy rap sheet could spend the rest of his life behind bars for the January 2012 armed robbery of Burdick's News Agency, according to a phillyburbs.com article. 

Suliman Ali, formerly of Hunters Way, in a non-jury trial this week, was convicted of multiple felony robbery charges and weapons law violations including a convicted felon possessing a firearm, according to the article. 

The charges stem from the Jan. 27, 2012 armed robbery of Burdick's News Agency. Ali, who was captured on surveillance footage riding away from the store on a bicycle, was arrested in April 2012 and charged with nine offenses stemming from the gunpoint robbery.

According to the criminal complaint, Ali pointed a gun in a Burdick's customer's back, while ordering the store's owner to "gimme all the money." Ali then forced the victims to the rear of the store before fleeing on a bike. 

Authorities said in the criminal complaint that Hatboro residents who provided tips on the condition of anonymity, had told them within days of the robbery that a man named "Ali" who owns a bike matched the description of the subject in the video stills released to the media. 

Police discovered a silver bike similar to the one used following the robbery in the common area behind Ali's Hunters Way home, according to court documents. 

Upon executing a search warrant, police found other items of evidence including cash, a Taurus .38 caliber revolver, a pair of black fingerless gloves, a Magna LX-2 mountain bike and a blue nylon backpack, according to the complaint. 

Authorities determined that Connie Johnson, the woman living with Ali, had purchased a handgun in 2007 and the gun matched the description of the one used in the robbery.

Johnson was arrested last fall and charged with intimidation of witnesses and related offenses after allegedly threatening several residents whom she believed provided information to police about the Burdick's News Agency robbery.

Because of his extensive criminal record for crimes including robbery, aggravated assault and kidnapping, Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Nathan Schadler said he hopes to put Ali in prison for the rest of his life, according to the Phillyburbs article.

The judge ordered that Ali be held at the county prison without bail while awaiting his sentencing hearing, which has not yet been scheduled.