By Barbara Boyer and Andrew Maykuth
The Philadelphia Inquirer
PHILADELPHIA — Authorities today intensified a manhunt for the third suspect wanted in the weekend slaying of Philadelphia police Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski as the reward for the fugitive’s arrest rapidly grew to $123,000.
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At a 3:30 p.m. news conference in City Hall, Mayor Nutter and Fraternal Order of Police president John McNesby said that $123,000 had been raised in the last four hours for anyone with information leading to the capture of Eric DeShann Floyd. Among the donors were the Bank of America, electricians’ union Local 98, lawyer Jimmy Binns, car dealership owners Gary Barbera and F.C. Kerbeck, and the Finnegan’s Wake bar in Northern Liberties.
“Somebody has to give up this thug and this killer,” McNesby said. Additional donations can be sent to the police union. The headquarters phone number is (215) 629-3600.
Speaking sternly, and slowly, Nutter made his own plea. “Eric Floyd — turn yourself in,” the mayor said, looking into several TV news cameras. “Face up to what you have done. We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
Nutter, who was also joined by District Attorney Lynn Abraham, said, “Anyone who aids or abets this particular individual will be prosecuted as well.”
Earlier in the day, the search spread to Elizabeth, N.J., where the daughter of a police officer spotted a man on a New Jersey Transit train who matched the description of 33-year-old Eric DeShann Floyd, 33, who also goes by the name, “Hasim.”
Police stopped the train as it approached Newark and the man shed the wig and fled, leading to a widespread hunt in Essex County.
But some Philadelphia investigators believe there is no evidence that Floyd has left the city and police continue to search for him, especially in North Philadelphia, Ramsey said.
They believe Floyd has little money and few associates to help him escape. One police source said that the that more than $40,000 stolen from the Bank of America branch in the ShopRite supermarket on Aramingo Avenue in Port Richmond had been recovered.
Liczbinski, 39, a married father of three, was fatally shot Saturday while chasing a trio of bank robbers in Port Richmond.
Floyd, an escapee from from a court-ordered drug treatment facility in Lancaster County, escaped during the Saturday’s chaos when two other allgeged accomplices were caught.
Police shot and killed Howard Cain, 33, minutes after they say he gunned down Liczbinski. They also apprehended Levon T. Warner, 39, a local boxer whose van was used as a getaway vehicle.
Floyd is armed and dangerous, Ramsey said. “Someone that would intentionally fire upon and kill a police officer throws away all regard for life at any level at all...,” Ramsey said. “If they kill a cop, imagine what they would do to you. And, that’s exactly why we’ve got to get a person with that kind of mentality off the streets.”
The Fraternal Order of Police and the Citizens Crime Commission said they have received pledges of more than $100,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Liczbinski’s killer.
Ramsey and John J. McNesby, president of the FOP’s local lodge, said investigators urged the public to report information even if it appears insignificant.
“We’re calling on the public today to root out and find out where this person is,” McNesby said during the press conference.
“We will find him,” Ramsey said.
The commissioner said Liczbinski’s death — he was the third officer lost in the line of duty in two years — has taken a heavy toll on the department because May is a national month of mourning of officers killed on the job.
The FOP, which is managing the reward fund, put up $10,000 from its own coffers. Bank of America put up $25,000 of the reward money and $10,000 was contributed by Gary Barbera, the car dealer who employs the slain sergeant’s son, Matthew.
The search on the New Jersey Transit train began after a Philadelphia police officer received a call from her daughter on the train about the man who matched the description. The mother e-mailed a picture of Floyd to her daughter while she was on the train. Authorities decided there was good reason to question the man.
The man fled after the train came to a halt. Service on Amtrak’s Northeast corridor was shut down for an hour while police conducted the hunt.
Hours later, police said, they still wanted to question the man to rule him out. Police did recover the wig he left behind and hoped to find DNA that they could compare with evidence at the scene.
Anyone with information to call the City hotline at 215-686-8477 or the Citizens Crime Commission hotline at 215-546-8477.
Copyright 2008 The Philadelphia Inquirer