Penn Police and an alert security guard foiled the plans of two burglars Wednesday night at the Hamilton Court apartment building.
At about 9:30 p.m., a guard working at the building -- located at 101 S. 39th St. -- encountered two men in a basement who he believed were acting suspiciously.
When questioned by the guard, the men said that they were looking for a friend who lived in the building. The employee asked them to get the supposed resident to confirm the explanation.
A short time later, the guard again encountered the men, who immediately left. The employee called police.
Officers responded quickly, and the guard provided them with detailed descriptions of the two suspects.
Another unit soon spotted the men several blocks away on the 3900 block of Ludlow Street -- less than two blocks from Hamilton Court.
The suspects attempted to flee on foot, but police quickly apprehended them.
The men were allegedly in possession of two laptop computers at the time.
After the Hamilton Court security guard positively identified the men, police began a door-to-door search of the apartments in an attempt to locate complainants.
Police located an unlocked apartment; the residents were found and they identified the two stolen computers as belonging to them. The residents were Penn undergraduates, ages 20 and 21.
Arrested were Marvin Wilson, 25, of the 5800 block of Windsor Avenue in southwest Philadelphia, and Michael Gardner, 19, of the 5200 block of Montgomery Avenue in West Philadelphia.
The suspects are not affiliated with Penn.
Police believe the men may have "piggybacked" their way into the building, following a legitimate resident through the exterior door.
Detectives are examining surveillance tapes from the scene for further evidence.
Police say that the crime highlights the importance of locking doors, even interior ones, in apartment complexes.
In a separate incident that occurred Thursday morning, a Penn Police patrol officer witnessed a man who was allegedly pulling at the door handles of cars parked in the parking lot of the School of Veterinary Medicine at 3850 Spruce St.
The officer also noticed abroken window on a nearby car, which provided the probable cause necessary to question the suspect.
A routine search of the man uncovered a container of cocaine in powder form -- the exact quantity was unknown at press time -- and several cell phones, one of which was found to be stolen.
The cell-phone theft may have occurred last week at 3700 Civic Center Boulevard.
An arrest warrant, issued by the Philadelphia Police Department's Southwest Detective Division, was also outstanding on the man.
Omar Reeve, 30, of Upper Darby was arrested and charged with cocaine possession, robbery, theft and receiving stolen property. Other charges may be added, as the investigation is still ongoing.
The owner of the vehicle in the Vet School parking lot later appeared and told police that the window had been broken earlier in another part of the city.
Police also found compact discs and other items on Reeve. Detectives are investigating to see whether Reeve may have stolen these items from nearby cars.
