By Dafney Tales
The Philadelphia Daily News
PHILADELPHIA — A 24-year-old tough guy with a lengthy rap sheet, including 16 prior arrests for shootings, drugs and robberies, was in critical condition last night after being shot in the head by police following a car stop.
Two uniformed police officers pulled over a driver in a black Ford Taurus at 27th and Cumberland streets about 7 last night, police said.
Chief Inspector Scott Small said that the driver had been acting suspiciously and failed to stop at the stop sign. When cops attempted to handcuff the man, he bolted, Small said, running north on Cumberland Street.
With the handcuff secured to one wrist, cops said the man pulled a gun from his waist and pointed it at police. One police officer shot him once in the head.
The man fell, police ordered him to drop his weapon and, instead, cops say, he flung the gun, a Smith and Weston .45 semi-automatic, over the fence a few feet away. The gun was later recovered.
Cops said the man then reached into his pocket, pulled out a cell phone and made a call.
“We don’t know who he called,” said Small at the crime scene. “When they arrested him, the phone was near the pool of blood with the light still on.”
The man was transported to Temple University Hospital.
“This is an excellent arrest,” Small said.
“Here’s a man, 24 years old with 16 prior arrests. He gets handcuffed, he escapes with handcuffs on, gets shot in the head, throws the gun over a fence and still makes a phone call,” he said.
Police Internal Affairs is investigating the shooting. The officer who discharged his weapon has been removed from patrol pending the outcome.
This was the eleventh person shot by police this year, four of them fatally.
Copyright 2008 The Philadelphia Daily News