Despite questioning more than a dozen witnesses after a triple shooting at a pool hall, which left one man dead and two others wounded, the case remains unsolved a week later, Homicide Lt. Mel Williams said.
Two to three men with bandanas over their faces entered the doorway of the billiards venue at 612-632 Washington Ave. April 27 and opened fire on two siblings and their friend, the lieutenant said.
Carlos Ramos Lamos, 25, from the 1000 block of South 11th Street, died at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital 15 minutes after he sustained a gunshot wound to his chest in the 10 p.m. ambush.
Lamos’ 29-year-old brother was hit in the right arm and was in stable condition, while the 25-year-old friend that was shot in the face was in critical condition. Both went to Jefferson Hospital.
Shortly after the shooting, investigators recovered a white car a block away that had been stolen from the Northeast nine hours earlier, Williams said. Inside the vehicle was a sawed-off shotgun and a handgun. Investigators believe there might be a link between the shooting and the vehicle, the lieutenant said.
To report information, call the Homicide Division at 215-686-3334/5.
Teen killed
A 15-year-old gunned down on his block Sunday died at a local hospital less than a half-hour after the 3 p.m. shooting.
Suffering from a gunshot wound to his left shoulder, police found Anthony Williams, from the 1500 block of South 19th Street, lying in a doorway of a dwelling on the same block, Officer Yolanda Dawkins of the Police Public Affairs Unit said.
Williams was transported to Jefferson Hospital.
Homicide detectives cited an argument with another teen as the motive, but no one was in custody as of Tuesday.
To report information, call the Homicide Division at 215-686-3334/5.
Mugged at knifepoint
After a man exited a take-out restaurant on the 1400 block of South Seventh Street, an assailant pressed a knife to his throat and demanded he give up his money.
The 22-year-old was unharmed in Saturday’s 11 p.m. holdup after he surrendered his wallet, which contained $200, Detective Joe Chiaro of South Detectives said.
Police described the offender as a black male, 25 to 30 years old, 6 foot, 200 pounds with a dark complexion. He was wearing a green sweatshirt and baggy blue jeans.
To report information, call South Detectives at 215-686-3013.
Pitbull used in robbery
Two men used a pit bull as a weapon to rob a 24-year-old as he was waiting for a bus at Ninth and Tasker streets Monday.
The victim told investigators the men approached him shortly after 9:30 p.m. and demanded his money or they would turn the gray and white dog loose on him, Detective Joe Chiaro of South Detectives said.
The thieves walked away with $5, a SEPTA bus pass and a Motorola cell phone.
The man holding the dog was in his 30s and 6 foot, with a dark complexion and wearing dark clothes.
The other man was in his 20s, 5-foot-8, with a dark complexion and dark clothing.
To report information, call South Detectives at 215-686-3013.
Warrant officers launch drug bust
When Common Pleas Court warrant unit officers served a bench warrant at a home on the 1900 block of Mercy Street April 26, they spotted large bundles of marijuana in plain view, police said. The court officers called the police department’s Narcotics Strike Force who, hours later, raided the home and made three arrests.
Confiscated in the 12:30 p.m. bust were three 20-pound bundles of hydro-marijuana, with a street value of $544,800; $2,470 in cash; and drug paraphernalia, Narcotics Cpl. Anthony Piluso said. A mother and two sons were arrested for dealing, as was another man.
Brandon Wilson, 20; Kevin Wilson, 22; and Angela Wilson, 38, from the address where the bust took place, were all charged with manufacture and delivery, possession and possession of paraphernalia.
Charles Coker, 19, from Southwest Philly, was charged with the same offenses.
Van crashes into SEPTA bus
A white minivan ran a red light at 11th and South streets and crashed into a SEPTA bus, which then slammed into a tree and a utility pole yesterday at about 7 a.m.
Four people sustained minor injuries, including the van’s driver and three transit passengers, Gary Fairfax, SEPTA spokesperson, said. Two went to Jefferson, the remaining injured parties to Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
The Route 40 bus was traveling east on South Street when the minivan, traveling north on 11th, ran a red light, Fairfax said.
The bus was slightly damaged, but drivable, with its operator returning it to a bus depot.
Mummers help kick off celebration
The annual Philadelphia Prison System Correctional Employee Week kicked off Monday with a little entertainment from the Mummers.
Several members of the Golden Crown Fancy Brigade and the Aqua String Band performed for the crowd, Bob Eskind, a prison system spokesperson, said.
Prison employees and their families joined Leon A. King 2nd, Esq., commissioner of Philadelphia Prison System, and other invited guests at Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, 7901 State Road.
Al Taubenberger, president of the Greater Northeast Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, delivered the keynote address. Correctional officers who came to the rescue of inmates trapped in a shower after a ceiling collapse in March also were honored.
Found
The body of a South Philly woman who had been missing for almost a year was discovered in the New Jersey Pine Barrens April 24.
It was the worst possible outcome for Gail Daniels. After almost a year since she reported her 27-year-old daughter missing, the woman has been found. The identification of Taneke Daniels was made Saturday – days after a New Jersey contractor found a woman’s body buried in a shallow grave in the Pine Barrens, New Jersey State Police Sgt. Stephen Jones said.
Daniels’ body was found in Brendan T. Byrne State Forest, about two miles off Route 72 in Woodland Township. Her body was so badly decomposed, race could not be determined, Jones said, adding dental records and other "pieces of evidence" were used to identify the woman.
The single mother of three boys, ages 3 to 11, was last seen May 12, 2005, leaving her mother’s Grays Ferry home. May 23, the day her mother reported her missing, Daniels was scheduled to testify against her 41-year-old boyfriend from West Philly in a domestic assault case, police said.
The Philadelphia Homicide Division has taken over the case and is working with New Jersey State Police, Jones said, adding autopsy results will not be announced until further in the investigation.
To report information, call the Homicide Division at 215-686-3334/5.
