By Robert Moran and Allison Steele
Philadelphia Inquirer
PHILADELPHIA — A police officer was injured in a violent encounter inside a South Philadelphia pharmacy late Tuesday afternoon, police said.
Police declared, “Officer down!” at 5:41 p.m. at the Rite Aid at 15th Street and Moyamensing Avenue.
Lt. Douglas Stanford, a 29-year veteran, came to the Rite Aid to perform a routine security check, Chief Inspector Scott Small said.
Employees told Stanford that a man had been taking items and putting them into a bag, Small said. The suspect had been in the store for about a half-hour, going up and down aisles, according to video surveillance, Small said.
“He was definitely on a shopping spree,” said Deputy Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel. Stanford stopped the suspect, and “a tussle ensued,” Bethel said.
Outside the store, the man flipped Stanford onto his back and fell on top of him. Stanford, 52, suffered three broken ribs and a possible bruised lung, Bethel said. A medic unit rushed him to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
Initially, Stanford complained of extreme pain and “was not able to catch his breath,” Small said, leading some fellow officers to believe he might have suffered a heart attack. He was reported in critical condition when he arrived at the hospital.
Stanford, who is married with three teenage children, was later upgraded to stable condition and was expected to make a full recovery, Bethel said.
Craig Lord, 30, who lives in the neighborhood, said he was crossing the street when the fracas broke out. The suspect “kind of body slammed the guy,” Lord said.
As a police helicopter circled overhead, Jeff Sposaro, 29, said he was with his two children at a playground across the street when the altercation erupted.
“What I saw was feet go up in the air,” he said. The officer “was slammed to the ground.” Moments later several officers arrived. “They all came flying in every direction,” he said.
Nicole Chambers, 16, said she saw the police converging on the Rite Aid and went to investigate. She said she saw the officer lying down just inside the store. Stanford howled in agony, “screaming, holding his side,” Chambers said.
Sposaro, who is 6-foot-2 and 280 pounds, described the assailant as “twice the size of me.”
Police described the suspect as about 6-foot-2, 250 pounds, between 35 and 40 years old. He sported a beard and mustache and was wearing a black-and-white shirt and black capri pants. He fled on a 10-speed bicycle.
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