The Chester County District Attorney’s Office and the West Goshen Police Department (WGPD) announce two additional arrests related to the October 19th shooting at a Wawa in West Goshen Township.
Zubair Bethea, 20, and Omar Beard, 31, both of Chester, were arrested on Monday in Delaware County. They have been charged with Robbery, Conspiracy, Possession with Intent to Deliver, and other related charges. Magisterial District Judge Martin Goch arraigned Omar Beard and set bail at $500,000. Magisterial District Judge N. Paige Simmons arraigned Zubair Bethea and set bail at $500,000 as well. Both defendants were remanded to the Chester County Prison.
Chester County District Attorney Christopher L. de Barrena-Sarobe said, “When shootings happen, Chester County law enforcement responds immediately. Persistent and high-level police work led to the arrest all the suspects involved in this attempt to steal drugs that led to violence.”
West Goshen Police Chief Michael P. Carroll stated, “I’m proud of how this department partnered with law enforcement in the region to apprehend everyone involved in this crime. These most recent arrests would not have occurred without the help of Delaware County CID and the Chester Police Department.”
The criminal complaints filed by the WGPD indicate that on October 19, 2024, at approximately 2:03 p.m., WGPD received numerous 9-1-1 calls reporting subjects physically fighting and shooting at each other in the parking lot of a Wawa store and TD Bank, located in the 700 block of East Market Street, West Goshen Township, Chester County. Witnesses reported the descriptions of the subjects and stated that two of the suspects were holding handguns.
Video surveillance recovered by law enforcement shows a physical fight by multiple subjects in the parking lot over a black trash bag, which was later determined to contain marijuana. Two of the Defendants, Frank Johnson, 21, and Zahir Scott, 18, shot at each other and then fled the scene. They were arrested soon after the shooting and their firearms were recovered by police.
Through further investigation, Bethea and Beard were identified as accomplices attempting to take the black trash bag of marijuana from Johnson. Detectives concluded that Bethea and Beard conspired with Scott to commit a robbery of multiple individual packages of marijuana from Johnson, with the intent to later sell it.
The West Goshen Police Department was the lead investigating agency and were assisted in this investigation by the Chester County Detectives, Westtown East Goshen Police Department, West Chester Police Department, Pennsylvania State Police, Chester Police Department, and Delaware County CID. Assistant District Attorney Kimberly Kaelin is the assigned prosecutor. If you have any information about this case, please contact West Goshen Township Police Department at 610696-7400.
