By David Gambacorta
Philadelphia Daily News
PHILADELPHIA — A punk thief pointed a gun at the head of a terrified woman in Oak Lane Tuesday night and posed a simple question: Do you know what time it is?
She responded with a tearful scream and was promptly knocked to the ground by the crook and his three accomplices, on Colonial Street near 2nd, police said.
Luckily for the woman, her cry for help was heard by Officer Harvey “Skip” Davis, who was off-duty and relaxing at home nearby.
Davis, 43, bolted outside and scanned the street for suspects. He spotted a panting, wide-eyed teenager who was crouching down in a neighbor’s driveway.
“He says to me, ‘You know what time it is?’ I said, ‘Yeah, time for you to get the hell on the ground! Police!’ ” Davis said.
The teen, who was armed with what investigators later determined to be a BB gun, took off running. Davis, a traffic-unit cop, chased him.
Within minutes, several police officers were at the scene and helped Davis arrest the 16-year-old youth and his three pals, who are also all minors.
Investigators said the four teens had stolen car keys from the woman, whom they assaulted about 11:40 p.m.
They also robbed a man who was walking with his daughter on Chelten Avenue near Wayne that evening, police said.
Detectives are trying to determine if the teens were involved in several other recent robberies in the area.
Investigators said the thugs’ victim was grateful for the swift response from Davis and the other officers.
“She was crying. She was pretty upset about the whole thing,” Davis said.
“They had a BB gun, but it looked like real gun. Any gun is real when you’re getting robbed.”
Davis and more than a dozen other Philly cops traveled yesterday to Washington with Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey to participate in Police Week festivities.
Copyright 2009 Philadelphia Daily News