Homicide detectives arrested a 16-year-old and charged him with the fatal shooting of another teen.
Police nabbed a 16-year-old from the 2500 block of Campbell Street and charged him with the murder of another teen on Oct. 30 — also known as Mischief Night.
Medic 14 pronounced Keith Lovett, 17, from the 1000 block of South 25th Street, dead at the scene, said Lt. Joe Maum of the Homicide Division.
The victim was standing on the 900 block of South Bonsall Street around 11:30 p.m. when the gunman rode by on a bicycle and unloaded multiple shots, the lieutenant said.
The suspect then got off his bike and fired several more bullets into the victim, added Maum.
Witnesses told police they heard three to five shots ring out.
Cop kills canine
A Fourth District officer squeezed out one shot and killed a 4-year-old white pit bull after the canine charged at him early Saturday, police said.
The officer and his partner were responding to a report of a vicious dog on the 2400 block of South Third Street, said Sgt. Steve Biello of South Detective Division.
When they arrived shortly before 5 a.m., police saw the dog growling and barking at a man who had taken refuge from the canine on the steps of a home on the block, the sergeant said.
Police managed to locate the dog’s owner, and while they were instructing him to restrain his pet and take it inside, the animal made a run for the officer, said Biello. The officer opened fire — striking the dog in the neck, the sergeant said.
The wounded canine ran to Third and Porter streets before succumbing to its injuries.
Rinick sentenced to life
Two years to the day Adam Finelli was gunned down inside his car on Halloween, the victim’s convicted killer — Billy Rinick — was sentenced to life in prison for the gangland-style slaying.
A Common Pleas jury had convicted Rinick of first-degree murder in the case last Wednesday.
In Pennsylvania, a life sentence automatically means no parole, and a first-degree murder conviction means one of two things — life in prison or the death penalty, said Cathie Abookire, spokesperson for the District Attorney’s Office.
The jury deliberated for just over an hour Friday morning before deciding the 31-year-old’s fate.
The life sentence comes on the heels of a 30-year jail term that Rinick is already serving in a federal detention center after being convicted earlier this year of cocaine trafficking. SPR
Violence at the polls
Mischief Night and Halloween were quieter than usual this year in South Philly — with few, if any, incidents reported — but Election Day more than made up for it.
Seven incidents occurred in South Police Division alone, said division Inspector Thomas Lippo.
One of the more serious incidents happened around noon at Front and Gladstone streets, police said. A man riding a 10-speed bicycle and wielding a wooden board whacked a Sam Katz supporter in the left elbow, said Sgt. Roland Lee of the Police Public Affairs Unit. As the offender rode past the victim — who was wearing a Katz shirt and handing out pamphlets — he allegedly yelled, "It’s all for Street," added the sergeant.
The victim was taken to St. Agnes Medical Center, where he was admitted for X-rays, police said.
In another incident, a 40-year-old Katz supporter went at it with a Street volunteer at 16th and Jackson streets around 10:30 a.m., Lippo said. Fists flew and the two suffered minor injuries before police broke up the fight, added the inspector. According to a source, the Katz worker was a Republican committeeman and the Street supporter — wearing a Street T-shirt — was a member of electricians union Local 98. When the committeeman told the man to take off his shirt or leave — since no campaigning is allowed in polling places — the Street supporter allegedly attacked the 40-year-old.
Another dispute broke out on the 2800 block of South 17th Street, this time between a woman in her 70s and a man in his 40s, Lippo said.
The judge of elections intervened and settled the verbal spat shortly after 12:30 p.m. According to police, the duo has had previous run-ins.
A woman in her 40s was arrested for public drunkenness after she showed up at the polls on the 2300 block of South 24th Street with the strong smell of alcohol on her breath and began causing a disturbance, Lippo said. Officials asked the woman to leave — which she did — only to return again. The inspector declined to release the woman’s name.
A volunteer pollwatcher for Katz was "bumped" by an election judge at 20th and Fitzwater streets, Lippo said. The victim, who called the Review as well as police, said the incident occurred after she brought problems to the judge’s attention at the Metropolitan AME Church.
"This judge became infuriated and physically assaulted me," the victim said. The woman said the judge "grabbed the collar of my T-shirt, tearing the elastic and exposing my bra. She attempted to throw me to the ground." The victim suffered a bruised left toe and scratch on her chest.
