November 3, 2015- Commonwealth v Benjamin Palmer:  On November 2, 2015, moments before his trial was set to begin in a Dauphin County courtroom, Benjamin Palmer entered a plea on four counts of robbery, one count of aggravated assault, and other related charges for a string of crimes committed in June and July of 2014.  On June 22, 2014, Palmer entered the Family Dollar store on 400 S. Cameron St. in Harrisburg City shortly after the store opened.  He demanded money from the store clerk at knife point, threatening her life if she did not comply.  He got $73 from the store before he got away.  The next day on June 23, 2015, Palmer entered the Rite Aid at 1941 Derry St., and asked the cashier for a Rite Aid card.  When the clerk turned back around to hand him the card, he had a long knife pointed at her, leaning over the counter.  He demanded that she put money in a plastic bag, and threatened that he would jump over the counter if she did not take him seriously.  He got away with $380.  On July 12, 2014, Palmer again entered the Family Dollar on S. Cameron St., where he held the store clerk at knife point after acting as if he was going to purchase a beverage.  He told the clerk that if she did not listen and stay calm, he would “stab her in the heart.”  About a week later on July 18, 2014, Palmer entered the Hess Station on Market St. in Harrisburg at about 8:45pm, and approached the counter as if he was going to purchase a soda.  As the store clerk began the transaction, Palmer came around the counter and held her at knife point while demanding money from the register.  When the clerk attempted to get away instead of opening the register to give him money, he chased her around the back of the store, stabbing at her with the knife.  He attempted to stab her in the mouth and actually chipped her tooth with the blade.  He also reached for her neck with the blade and sliced her ear, which required eleven stitches.  Despite the Palmer's attempts, the victim was miraculously able to avoid serious punctures wounds to her body and had only surface injuries to her chest and torso.  She was able to escape out of the back door of the kitchen. 

Detective Christopher Krokos and Harrisburg City Police were able to identify Palmer from a series of surveillance videos and still photos from each location, along with accounts provided by the victims, which included a description of the bicycle that Palmer rode to each of the robberies, and which he left in the woods behind the scene of his last crime.

On November 3, 2014, Palmer was sentenced pursuant to a negotiated plea agreement by the Honorable Richard A. Lewis.  The defendant received a total of 15-30 years in state prison.  The victim from the Hess Station provided a statement at sentencing, noting the mental anguish and lasting effects that this experience has had on her.  “…he stole nothing from our store that day, but I lost everything. A lot of the loss that has been incurred cannot be replaced.”   Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Hartlep stated that she is happy with the sentence, and hopes it can provide some measure of comfort to the victims that the individual responsible for these crimes will be off the street.  She further stated that one of the biggest factors in deciding to proceed with this plea was to prevent all four of the victims from having to relive these traumatic events from the witness stand.