Knife-wielding burglar tracked from scene of Bucks crime using stolen AirPods, police say
Nafis Fisher broke into the victim's home in Upper Southampton around 2 a.m. Tuesday and pinned her to her bed before being scared away by her family, investigators said.
An Upper Southampton woman awakened Tuesday to a burglar pinning her to her bed and wielding a knife he had taken from her kitchen, police said Thursday. He had carried an extension cord from the home into the bedroom, apparently planning to bind her with it.
The woman and her family scared off the intruder, and he fled with her Apple AirPods in his pocket. Hours later, investigators said, those pilfered electronics led police right to him.
Nafis Fisher, 33, was taken into custody as he sat in a rented Honda sedan not far from his home in Port Richmond, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest. He has been charged with burglary, aggravated assault, robbery, and related crimes, and remained in custody, in lieu of 10% of $250,000 bail.
There was no indication he had hired an attorney. Court records show Fisher has multiple convictions in Philadelphia for drug possession.
At a Thursday afternoon news conference, Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn commended the victim for fending off the attack “with every fiber of her being.”
“Ultimately that 25-year-old female victim screamed, such that it awoke her mom and her mom came running into the hallway — where her mom physically grappled with the intruder," Schorn said.
The woman told police she was awakened just after 2 a.m. by Fisher standing over her and holding her down, the affidavit said. When she screamed for help, he let her go and ran out of her bedroom, then briefly struggled with the woman’s mother before fleeing the home through the garage.
No one in the home was injured in the incident. Schorn said the victim had no relation to Fisher and that he was a stranger to the family.
The victim later noticed that her AirPods were missing, along with her credit and debit cards, driver’s license, and passport, the affidavit said. Using the AirPods’ Find My app, investigators were able to track Fisher as he travelled on the Pennsylvania Turnpike through Delaware County near Folcroft, and eventually back to the city.
At 7 a.m., Fisher was confronted near Aramingo Avenue and E. Somerset Street in Port Richmond and detained by Philadelphia police officers. When an officer from Upper Southampton arrived at the scene, he used the victim’s Find My app to force the AirPods to play a tone in order to locate them.
Officers then heard the sound coming from inside Fisher’s Honda and quickly found him, the affidavit said.
Schorn called the the break-in “highly unusual” and said the county would dedicate all resources to prosecuting the case. She urged anyone with information on Fisher — and whether he deliberately targeted the victim’s home — to come forward to authorities.
“This case is one that just undermines everyone’s belief that they are safe in their own home,” she said.