Philly police arrest man they say attacked officer, stole his gun, and hit him with a car
The man attacked an off-duty officer and fled in a black BMW sedan, police said.
A man attacked an off-duty officer before wresting away his personal firearm and hitting the officer with a car as he fled the scene, part of a melee that erupted in North Philadelphia and left the officer with a concussion, police said.
Police are now searching for another man they say hit the officer multiple times in the face.
The officer, who has been with the police department for nine years, had just wrapped up his overnight shift at the 22nd Police District at 7:12 a.m. Sunday and was on his way home in his personal car, wearing plain clothes, when he drove up to a crowd in the street and a black BMW blocking the intersection of West Oxford Street and Ridge Avenue, said Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore.
After waiting around four minutes for the car to move, the officer, whose name was not released, honked his horn, prompting a woman who was talking to someone in the BMW to start yelling at the officer.
Then, a man who police say goes by the name “Duke” approached the officer and began arguing with him before punching the officer several times in the left side of his face, said Vanore. After the first attack, the officer got out of the car and identified himself as a police officer and the man known as Duke brandished a gun and pointed it at the officer, he said.
After the officer called for backup and he continued to struggle with Duke, another man, later identified as 24-year-old Yusef Coleman, who police say had a gun, attacked the officer, putting him in a headlock from behind, police said. As the officer struggled with Coleman, he grabbed Cole’s gun and pulled the trigger to clear the gun’s chamber, said Vanore.
No one was injured by that shot, he said.
More people joined the fight and the officer struggled with as many as 12 people, said Vanore. At one point, he said, someone called on the 24-year-old to grab a gun the officer had in his waistband, and the man was able to take the gun and run from the scuffle, getting away in the BMW.
Police later said Duke pointed a gun at the officer and demanded he release his firearm before Coleman was able to steal it, police said.
The officer was taken to Temple University Hospital and was being treated for injuries to his face and a concussion, said Vanore.
Police released images of Coleman and he was arrested Sunday at G and Hilton Streets, in Kensington, Vanore said. He was charged with criminal conspiracy, aggravated assault, assault of a law enforcement officer, and related crimes.
Police recovered the officer’s firearm, a Glock 9mm, on Tuesday. Officers recovered the assailant’s gun, which had an obliterated serial number, after it dropped on the ground at the scene of the fight, said Vanore.
Three women police said were involved in the skirmish went to the 22nd District and gave statements at the department’s officer-involved-shooting unit, said Vanore. As of Monday afternoon, the women had not been charged.
Police are searching for the man who goes by the name Duke, who was described as heavy set and 6 feet tall, and asked anyone with information to call the officer-involved shooting investigation unit at 215-683-1866.