CAIRO — Two Greene County men are being held on felony charges in connection with an armed robbery in Cairo, Steven Nevel, public information officer for state police Troop F, said Monday.
John L. Prosser, 53, of Acra, and Moses Doctor, 60, of Cairo, were both charged in relation to the July 17 incident, Nevel said.
At about 8:50 p.m., state police from the Catskill barracks responded to a home on Joel M. Austin Road in Cairo after receiving a report of a robbery at that location.
While speaking with the homeowner, troopers were informed that an unknown man wearing a blue hoodie and jeans was walking up to his home through the backyard. When the troopers confronted the unknown individual, the man pulled a knife out and ran into the home and confronted a second person in the house, striking them in the head, Nevel said.
The intruder then grabbed a bag of prescription medication and fled from the house, Nevel said. The man got into a dark sedan and fled the area.
Police did not say if any residents of the house were injured during the robbery.
Police followed several leads during the investigation and on July 20 took Prosser into custody.
Prosser was charged with first-degree burglary and first-degree robbery, both class B felonies. The charges also noted Prosser used a dangerous instrument during the incident, Nevel said. Police did not describe or identify the instrument Prosser allegedly used.
Prosser was arraigned in Town of Catskill Court in front of Justice Richard Paolino and was sent to the Greene County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.
While Prosser was taken into custody, police continued to search for the second suspect involved in the robbery.
On July 21, at about 10:20 p.m., Doctor was arrested, Nevel said. He was also charged with first-degree burglary and first-degree robbery, both class B felonies.
Doctor was arraigned in Town of Catskill Court and was sent to the Greene County Jail without bail, Nevel said, citing previous felony convictions.
When Prosser was arrested for the incident in Cairo on July 20, he was out on bail following his arrest for a similar incident in Leeds last year.
On July 16, 2021, Prosser and another woman are accused of the strong-arm robbery of a Leeds woman.
The couple is accused of “subjecting a woman to physical force” in a driveway at her home on Route 23B and taking her purse and cell phone, Nevel said.
Prosser and the woman were charged with second-degree robbery, a class C felony.
When police arrested Prosser at the time, they located Burpenorphine/Naloxone film strips in his wallet. Prosser was not in possession of the originally prescribed container and was unable to provide proof of prescription.
He was also charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a class A misdemeanor, Nevel said.