Man comes to niece's aid in Upper Darby armed robbery attempt

UPPER DARBY (WPVI) -- A 17-year-old girl says she was at her front door, looking for her keys, when suddenly a man grabbed her from behind, and began wrestling her for her bag.

"I opened the door, and I'm looking down, and someone turned me and I fell to the ground," said Ashley Lamy.

On Sunday night, Ashley walked Action News through the terrifying moment police say 27-year-old Sultan Akbar-Abdullah tried to rob her at knifepoint on the front steps of her Upper Darby home.

"Ahhhh! That's how I am, I'm fighting for my bag. I thought he was trying to grab me," said Ashley. "My dad opens the door, and he's like 'Yo!' "

"I heard her screaming outside the door, and my brother was chasing him, so I chased after my brother and him," said Ashley's 29-year-old uncle who did not want his face shown on camera.

He did show Action News the scratches on his face and neck, and a shallow stab wound to his shoulder after he chased Akbar-Abdullah into a nearby alley, and wrestled him to the ground until police arrived.

"I'm like 'why are you robbing little girls?'" said Ashley's uncle. "When I'm talking to him, he says, 'I didn't rob anybody,' and out of nowhere I got stabbed."

Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood says Akbar-Abdullah confessed to three recent armed robberies, including Lamy's case. Authorities are now considering him a suspect in a least two other armed robberies.

"The M.O. Is the same. Lone woman, late at night, knifepoint, threatening to kill them if they didn't give up their handbag," Chitwood said.

Chitwood said the suspect's cimes may have escalated if he wasn't stopped.

"I thank the uncle, the father of the victim in this latest robbery for what he did. They put themselves in harm's way, they survived and he's in jail and got locked up because of them," Chitwood said. "Not because of police, because of them."

"I feel like it was worth it. I got him off the street," said Ashley's uncle. "He won't hurt nobody else. At least he won't hurt my niece again."

"I always knew my uncle was like that. I know he would risk his life for me," said Ashley. "I just didn't think it would be a time when he'd have to do that."

Police say Akbar-Abdullah has a long rap sheet including retail theft and simple assault.

He is currently being held on $100,000 bail.