Philly Officer Held in Connection with Home Invasion Robbery

An 11-year veteran of the Philadelphia Police Department has been charged in connection with a home invasion earlier this week in the nearby community of Pottstown.

Officials say Officer Malik Snell was the alleged getaway driver after the home invasion turned violent. Risa Vetri Ferman, Montgomery County (Pa.) assistant district attorney, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that Snell was apprehended after leading Pottstown police on a chase that reached speeds of up to 130 m.p.h.

A second man was also jailed. A third remained at large at presstime.

The Philadelphia PD has suspended Snell for 30 days with intent to dismiss. He is assigned to the 18th District in West Philadelphia.

Officials say the home invasion occurred after midnight and that Snell waited in an SUV while his brother-in-law, Tyree Aimes, and another man, Stephen Gibson, broke into the home. Ferman told the paper that the break-in was planned to be retaliation against someone who had stolen money from a friend of the men. The friend is allegedly a drug dealer.

Officials say the men hit the wrong apartment and broke into the home of a couple who was not involved. Ferman told the Inquirer that Aimes and Gibson beat the couple at gunpoint and fled. Aimes and Snell allegedly sped away in the SUV and Gibson was left behind.

Pottstown police chased the SUV into Berks County where Exeter Township police tried to stop the vehicle by laying out spike strips. Before the SUV reached the spikes, it crashed into another vehicle. The occupants of the other vehicle suffered minor injuries and were treated and released at a local hospital.

Police say Aimes and Snell attempted to escape on foot. They were arrested by a Pottstown K-9 officer and two Exeter police officers. Snell was reportedly found hiding in a shed and was taken into custody after a K-9 bit him when he refused to comply with officers' commands to surrender.

At presstime, Snell and Aimes were being held at Montgomery County Prison in lieu of $500,000 bail each.