Two Albrightsville men, charged in connection with a robbery in Nesquehoning that occurred in 2018 and scheduled to go on trial in the county court on Thursday, instead entered guilty pleas to misdemeanor simple assault counts, with six felony charges dropped in a plea deal with the district attorney’s office. The plea agreement was reached after the commonwealth was unable to find the victim of the crime.

Adrian Malcomn Thompson, 27, and Robert H. Freeman, 27, entered their pleas before Judge Joseph J. Matika. A jury panel was selected on Monday to hear the case but the jurors were notified on Thursday not to report after the plea deal was struck.

When asked by Matika why all the felony counts were dropped, Assistant District Attorney Cynthia Dyrda Hatton, prosecutor in the case, told the court, “We have no victim, your honor.”

Hatton said Nesquehoning police have been looking for the victim for some time for the pending trial. They were able to serve a subpoena for the preliminary hearing in the case but could not find him to serve one for the trial.

Hatton said, “I want to thank the police, they did a wonderful job” in trying to find the victim, but could not. She said some information received concerning the victim was that he was homeless.

Dropped were felony counts or robbery - criminal threat; robbery - inflict threat; robbery - take property; criminal conspiracy - robbery threat, receiving stolen property and fleeing or attempting to elude police.

Incident details

The two were charged for an incident on Aug. 12, 2018, when Nesquehoning police were dispatched to a fight in the street involving three men in the 100 block of West Railroad Street. Police made contact with the victim, who told them he was just assaulted and robbed. He said that his red backpack was stolen from him.

Police then observed a vehicle believed involved in the incident leaving the area. A pursuit began and continued onto Route 209 and traveling toward Jim Thorpe. Nesquehoning police asked for backup from area officers while the chase was going on.

While chasing the vehicle, police saw a backpack thrown from the vehicle. It was later found on the road and identified by the victim as the one stolen.

Police came across the vehicle crashed at Route 209 and Liberty Road in Jim Thorpe. Jim Thorpe police arrived on scene and a search of the area was conducted. A suspect was spotted in nearby woods and taken into custody. He was later identified as Freeman.

Later, a second man emerged from the woods, identified as Thompson.

Police took both men back to the scene of the crash. Among the items found in the crashed vehicle was a cellphone later identified by the victim as being his phone.

The police report indicated Thompson told them he did not want to talk about the incident. However, while in a holding cell at the police station, he stated that he was the driver of the crashed vehicle and admitted stealing it from Albrightsville.

Freeman told officers he was just out for a walk in the woods and didn’t know anything about the robbery.

Matika placed both men on probation for a year and ordered both to render 50 hours of community service, pay court costs of about $1,000, pay a $50 per month supervision fee while on probation and have no contact with the victim.

In May, Thompson pleaded to a charge of resisting arrest for an incident on June 26, 2020, in the 200 block of West Catawissa Street, Nesquehoning, following a vehicle stop. Police attempted to serve a warrant on him and he resisted. The warrant was for the robbery.

In June, Freeman pleaded to a felony count of manufacture, delivery or possession with intent to manufacture/deliver a controlled substance. In exchange for the plea, misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a small amount of marijuana were dropped. He was arrested on Sept. 10, 2017, by state police at Fern Ridge following a traffic stop.

He was placed on probation for five years.

Matika ruled his sentences would run concurrent with the prior probation terms.