An 83-year-old priest from Darby succumbed to injuries he suffered in a Sunday-afternoon car accident on West Passyunk Avenue, police said.
Monsignor Edward Musial of Villa St. Joseph Parish died at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, said Inspector Bill Colarulo of the Police Public Affairs Unit.
The priest had been traveling in his 2003 Toyota east on Passyunk Avenue around 12:40 p.m. Sunday, said Colarulo.
After crossing 28th Street, the driver of another car caused Musial to swerve into the westbound lanes of traffic on Passyunk, where yet another vehicle slammed into his, the inspector said.
A medic took the victim to HUP in critical condition with a broken neck and internal trauma, police said.
Cardinal Justin Rigali will celebrate a funeral Mass at 11 a.m. tomorrow for the late priest at St. Ephrem Church in Bensalem, where Musial was pastor emeritus.
Man sought in teen’s rape
Investigators released a sketch last Friday of a man who abducted and raped a teenage girl by pretending he had a gun.
The 17-year-old victim had been walking north on the 2000 block of South 21st Street around 7 a.m. Jan. 22 when the suspect grabbed her, according to the Special Victims Unit.
Police said the man used a simulated gun to force the teen into an abandoned dwelling on the 2000 block of Gerritt Street, where he raped her and swiped $7 and her Nokia cell phone.
Police described the suspect as a black male who is 5-foot-9 and 20-30 years old with a dark complexion, thin build and thin mustache and goatee.
To report information, call the Special Victims Unit at 215-685-3251/2.
Factory worker stabbed
An altercation between two South Philly Cambodian workers inside a candy factory in the Northeast led one of them to stab the other, police said.
The 22-year-old victim lives on the 1800 block of South Fourth Street and detectives believe his 36-year-old attacker also might live in that area, said Northeast Detective Division Lt. John Thompson.
The workers started arguing around 8:30 a.m. last Thursday at The Chocolate Factory, 9301 Ashton Road, said Inspector Bill Colarulo of the Police Public Affairs Unit.
One of the men allegedly stabbed the other twice in his back with a large knife, the inspector said.
Language has proven a barrier in cracking the case, and police don’t know the source of the dispute, nor have they been able to determine the surname of the alleged assailant, Thompson told the Review on Monday.
The victim was taken to Frankford Hospitals-Torresdale Campus in stable condition and was still hospitalized earlier this week, police said.
Snow rage cited in assault
A woman and her boyfriend allegedly resorted to violence after discovering their neighbors had parked in a space they had shoveled and "reserved" with trashcans, police said.
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Police arrested Evette Morales (left), 27, from the 2500 block of South Second Street, and Omar Beyah, 23, of the 500 block of Winton Street, after a Jan. 25 incident on Morales’ block, said Inspector Bill Colarulo of the Police Public Affairs Unit. ![](http://ftp.gmnews.com/images/media.southphillyreview.com/images/spr-2957-Police_morales.jpg")
Accompanied by Beyah, Morales knocked on the door of her 33-year-old neighbor and her 44-year-old husband around 10:15 p.m., said Detective Joe Chiaro of South Detective Division.
Morales allegedly called the woman a "white b—-" as she and her beau forced their way inside the couple’s home, where they began beating them, Chiaro said.
The female victim was taken to Methodist Hospital for a broken nose and bruises.
Morales and Beyah were charged with simple assault, conspiracy, reckless endangerment and defiant trespass.
Girlfriend nabbed in knifing
Police arrested a woman after she allegedly stabbed her boyfriend for refusing to give her money to buy crack cocaine.
The 54-year-old victim was admitted to HUP’s trauma unit because the knife barely missed his liver, said Inspector Bill Colarulo of the Police Public Affairs Unit.
Investigators arrested Yvonne Manley, 44, of the 2300 block of Wharton Street, after the Jan. 25 stabbing, which occurred around 7:40 p.m.
Manley was charged with aggravated assault, possession of an instrument of crime and related offenses. Detectives recovered a knife.
Cache of guns and drugs netted
Police arrested a woman and her two teenage children after they found guns and drugs during a raid of their home on the 2600 block of South Second Street, police said.
A tip phoned into the Gun Recovery Reward Information (GRRIP) hotline prompted the Jan. 26 raid by Narcotics Strike Force officers, said Narcotics Bureau Inspector Joe Sullivan.
Officers recovered six shotguns loaded with two live rounds, a .25-caliber loaded Titan, a .38-caliber loaded Smith and Wesson and a handheld Taser stun gun, the inspector said.
The stash of narcotics seized in the raid included $3,780 worth of Oxycontin, Xanax and Percocet pills, along with $400 worth of cocaine, police said.
Investigators also confiscated a security camera with a monitor that police said the suspects used to watch drug transactions they conducted in their driveway. A police scanner also was recovered.
Michelle Hines, 46; her son Thomas, 18; and her 16-year-old daughter were charged with drug and weapons violations.
To file a firearm or drug complaint, call the GRRIP hotline at 215-683-GUNS.
Arrests in theft spree
South Detective Division’s Special Investigations Unit made two arrests in a string of five robberies and two residential burglaries that took place over the last two months.
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Gregory Pellegrino (left), 20, of the 2500 block of South Fifth Street, and Leonard Marrandino, 20, of the 1000 block of Winton Street, were taken into custody last Thursday on the 2500 block of South Seventh Street, said SIU Sgt. Tim Cooney. ![](http://ftp.gmnews.com/images/media.southphillyreview.com/images/spr-2957-Police_pellegrino.jpg")
Both were charged with several counts of burglary, theft and assault after admitting to all seven crimes, said Cooney.
The pair targeted white males, mostly between the ages of 19-21, police said. Pellegrino and Marrandino employed the same ruse in each incident — one would wield a silver handgun while standing in front of the victim while the other would stand behind the target and empty his pockets, the sergeant said.
The robberies happened Dec. 5 on the 2400 block of South Chadwick Street; Dec. 11 on the 2700 block of South 17th Street; Dec. 12 on the 300 block of Fitzgerald Street; Dec. 16 at 16th Street and Oregon Avenue; and Jan. 7 on the 2200 block of South Chadwick Street.
In addition to the robberies, Marrandino was charged with two residential burglaries that occurred Dec. 24 on the 100 block of Wolf Street and Jan. 7 on the 1700 block of Ritner Street. In the Wolf Street heist, the suspect allegedly swiped the family’s Christmas gifts, Cooney said.
Detectives are trying to determine if the suspects are responsible for more jobs in the area.
Bartender flags bandit
When a bartender refused to comply with an armed robber’s demand for cash, the dejected thief fled empty-handed.
A man entered Broadway 2, 1909 E. Passyunk Ave., around 8:30 p.m. Monday and ordered a shot, said Inspector Bill Colarulo of the Police Public Affairs Unit.
A short time later, he took out a silver handgun and demanded money from the 38-year-old female barkeep, said the inspector.
The robber fled after the victim refused to turn over any money.
To report information, call South Detectives at 215-686-3013.
Local man killed in hit-and-run
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Bobby Janaitis was off-duty and didn’t have to help the two men stranded on Interstate-95. After all, he towed vehicles for a living.
But this one was a freebie for the guys who lost a tire to their minivan near the Girard Avenue exit around 10:40 p.m. last Thursday.
Janaitis, 31, of the 2600 block of South 11th Street, had just finished a job for his employer, South Philly Towing, when he saw the motorists and pulled his truck over to be a Good Samaritan, said Sgt. George Golden of the Accident Investigation Division.
No sooner had Janaitis exited his truck when a black Mercedes came barreling down the interstate and slammed into him head-on, the sergeant said.
The male driver didn’t bother to stop.
Around 10 a.m. Sunday, the owner of a two-door, hard-top convertible 2000 SL 500 series Mercedes turned the car over to police as part of the criminal probe. No charges have been filed against the owner and investigators are still trying to determine who was driving the car, Golden said. The sergeant would not release any information about the owner.
As Janaitis’ family members cope with their grief and anger, they are urging the hit-and-run driver to surrender.
"We’re mad that the person who did this left him there to die and just took off," Victor Rescigno, the victim’s brother-in-law, said Tuesday — the day before Janaitis’ funeral.
"Be a man and do the right thing," added the victim’s nephew, Victor Rescigno Jr. "It was the coldest night of the year and he was left to die in the street."
The report that Janaitis was trying to help others the night of his death came as no surprise to family members.
"He was a hell of a kid," said Rescigno, the brother-in-law. "He would give you the shirt off his back. He never wanted anything in return. He was sensitive, caring — and it was a great loss."
Janaitis wasn’t taken to a hospital — he was taken to the morgue, Rescigno said. He saw his brother-in-law’s battered body at the funeral parlor.
Janaitis’ wife of nine years, Jamie, was in too much grief to talk to reporters outside the victim’s home earlier this week. Janaitis also leaves behind an 11-year-old daughter, Jennifer, from a previous relationship.
A viewing was held yesterday at Stolfo Funeral Home, 2536 S. Broad St. A Mass of Christian burial followed at St. Rita’s Church, Broad and Ellsworth streets.
Janaitis was buried at St. Peter and Paul Cemetery in Springfield, Delaware County.
About 40 tow trucks from Janaitis’ company and others in the city drove in the funeral procession.
A beef-and-beer benefit for Janaitis’ family will be held Feb. 26 at Fireside Tavern, 2701 Marshall St. For more information, call 215-409-5807.
