Philadelphia Inquirer
PHILADELPHIA — Four men have been charged with trying to kill police officers Wednesday night in two incidents, one involving gunfire during a robbery, the other a stolen car.
Two officers were injured when hit by the car, and its driver and a suspect in the robbery were wounded by police bullets.
None of the injuries was life-threatening, officials said.
About 6 p.m., a man told two Highway Patrol officers that a home-invasion robbery was taking place in the 1800 block of North 18th Street in North Philadelphia.
At the house, an officer heard yelling and, through a window, saw a robbery, said Lt. Frank Vanore, a police spokesman.
At least one of the robbers saw police and fired, prompting police to return fire, Vanore said.
Three men ran from the rear of the house, but an officer was covering the back, and more shots were fired, Vanore said.
Wounded in an arm and arrested was Lenford Fletcher, 31, of the 1200 block of Passmore Street in Oxford Circle. He was treated at Temple University Hospital.
Police arrested another suspect at the scene and pursued a third man before apprehending him about two blocks away, hiding in a yard in the 1700 block of North Gratz Street. Those suspects were Mikle Eubanks, 29, of the 6700 block of Large Street in the city’s Castor section, and Jason Graddick, 31, of the 1100 block of Windrim Avenue in Logan.
The three were charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, burglary, and related offenses, police said.
Around 9:30 p.m., police stopped a suspected stolen car at Girard Avenue and Broad Street in North Philadelphia, Vanore said. The driver then took off before being hemmed in by two police cars, one in front and one behind, at 16th and Oxford Streets, Vanore said.
To escape, the driver first reversed, then went forward, striking and pinning two Highway Patrol officers, one of whom shot the driver in a leg, Vanore said.
The man managed to drive off. Andrew Bell, 35, of the 3300 block of Kensington Avenue, was arrested about 12 blocks away, in the 1900 block of North 25th Street. His leg wound was treated at Temple.
Bell had been arrested 38 times before, Vanore said. “He’s got quite a list,” he said.
Bell is now charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault.
The officers, who were not seriously injured, were also treated at Temple.
Two officers from the 22d Police District assisted in the chases and apprehension of Bell, Vanore said.
The three officers who fired their weapons will be assigned to administrative duties while the incidents are investigated internally, Vanore said.
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