PHILADELPHIA _ As widespread looting hit West Philadelphia's 52nd Street corridor on May 31, surveillance footage showed a man in a blonde wig and surgical mask guiding a stolen forklift as it hauled away a vault from a local Wells Fargo branch.
Seven weeks after that brazen theft, the FBI has arrested two men they say were among a group of culprits.
Prosecutors, in court filings this week, named the wig-wearing bandit as Raphael Shaw, 20, and accused him of making off with $104,000. They alleged a second man, Xavier Nolley-Hall, was with him that day and had entered the ransacked bank intending to steal money.
Both are among a growing number of defendants who federal prosecutors have charged in connection with incidents during the unrest that gripped Philadelphia after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Shaw and Nolley-Hall's purported crime played out May 31 as looters ransacked the ParkWest Town Center and the historic 52nd Street business corridor, known as West Philadelphia's Main Street. Nearly two months later, residents and businesses are still recovering from that devastation and the heavy-handed police response.
But when Shaw allegedly donned his wig and mask and joined the crowd rushing in and out of the Wells Fargo branch's busted front windows, few police were on the scene.
Surveillance footage described in government court filings shows the wig-wearing man, with a distinctive tattoo on his right forearm, surveying the bank alongside the crowd around 6 p.m., then leaving. A man with a shotgun appears outside, sending the crowd of looters scattering. Within moments, the wig-wearer returns again, this time guiding another unidentified man driving a forklift, which had been stolen earlier from a Lowe's home improvement store in the same shopping center, agents said.
Investigators identified Shaw after two Philadelphia police officers who had previous run-ins with him recognized the tattoos on the forearm of the man in the video, according to the complaint filed in his case. Agents later discovered photos on Shaw's Instagram account last month showing him and others brandishing large amounts of cash.
At the time of the bank heist, Shaw was out on bail, awaiting trial for an assault charge in Chester County. He was arrested again in possession of a stolen car, three days after allegedly stealing the cash vault.
Agents arrested and charged Nolley-Hall on July 9, but documents detailing that case remain under court seal. Investigators said while he admitted to entering the bank branch that day to steal money, he denied knowing Shaw, even though the two men had been stopped by police together on previous occasions and were shown on the surveillance video together.
It was unclear Friday whether Shaw or Nolley-Hall had retained attorneys. Both men remain in custody charged with felony crimes including, entering a bank with intent to commit.
Shaw was tentatively scheduled to appear before a federal judge Friday afternoon.
