Bensalem police think break-ins targeted Asian American business owners; here’s why

Jo Ciavaglia, Bucks County Courier Times
·2 min read
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Bensalem police believe a burglary ring targeting Asian American homeowners with businesses in Philadelphia used GPS trackers to target their victims.

One arrest has been made in connection with a break-in last year and similar crimes have been reported in surrounding counties, police said.

On Wednesday, Bensalem police announced they arrested a 45-year-old Philadelphia man suspected of participating in a September 2023 burglary in the Village Greene development off Bensalem Boulevard.

Bensalem Police believe these two vehicles have been involved in at least one burglary by a ring targeting Asian American business owners in Bucks County.
Bensalem Police believe these two vehicles have been involved in at least one burglary by a ring targeting Asian American business owners in Bucks County.

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An Asian American homeowner and her son reported they returned home around 10 p.m. to find the front door of the home unlocked and the basement door broken. The home had been ransacked, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Surveillance footage captured a white Sprinter van parked in the driveway earlier that night and showed suspects forcing open the basement door. Inside the home, one of the thieves was seen with a gun and redirecting cameras away from the robbers.

Police have not said what was taken from the home during the 40-minute heist.

This still photo from a surveillance camera shows suspected burglar Andrew Gray, of Philadelphia, displaying a handgun while going through the home of a Bensalem family
This still photo from a surveillance camera shows suspected burglar Andrew Gray, of Philadelphia, displaying a handgun while going through the home of a Bensalem family

A license plate reader recorded the van after it left the home; it showed it was registered to Frederick Gray, of Philadelphia, police said.

He was stopped by police a few days later in the van. Investigators also used cellphone records to place Gray in the area of Village Greene around the time of the burglary, but there was not enough probable cause to charge Gray, police said.

Detectives used the next five months to build their case, police said, and used a search warrant this week to seize his cellphone and collect a DNA sample.

Text messages on the phone reportedly include Gray orchestrating the timing and location of the Village Greene break-in, the affidavit said. Gray also allegedly provided videos of the home to an accomplice so that they went to the correct location.

When Gray was arrested Wednesday, he reportedly had a GPS tracker in his possession, police said.

He was taken to Bucks County Correctional Center on $250,000 bail for two burglary-related felonies and misdemeanors.

Reporter Jo Ciavaglia can be reached at jciavaglia@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Did Bensalem burglary suspect target Asian American business owners?