2 more smash-&-grab suspects nabbed

Police charged two more men yesterday in connection with a splash-and-grab robbery that happened in Voorhees, N.J., on Feb. 12.

David Smith, 18, of Lakeshore Drive in Camden and Jeffrey W. Byrd, 25, of Chestnut Avenue in Woodlynne, were charged with aggravated assault and robbery.

The men are suspected of throwing a 24-ounce cup of hot coffee in the face and onto the torso of a Wawa Market clerk and fleeing with money from a cash register on Feb. 12, Voorhees police said.

Kareem A. Hutt, 26, also from Chestnut Avenue in Woodlynne, was previously charged with the Voorhees robbery and for another in Philadelphia.

The U.S. Marshal's Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested Smith and Byrd yesterday without incident.

Smith was arrested at 5:20 at The Mansions apartments on Branch Hill Avenue in Pine Hill, N.J. Byrd's arrest came shortly after 7 at his residence.

The incident is part of a string of robberies in which thieves have distracted convenience store clerks by throwing hot beverages on them and then taking money from the registers.

There were 19 such robberies in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. Three were in Philadelphia. Police said they suspect Hutt was the ringleader in all.

Their investigation is continuing. Smith and Byrd have not been linked to the Philadelphia cases as of yet. *