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Suspect cleared in Hunting Park attack on undercover cop

The man, who had an unexplained gunshot wound, was still in custody for an unrelated burglary.

Crime scene unit looks over a car that was occupied by an undercover police sergeant when she was attacked by a man who shattered the driver-side window with a large object in the Hunting Park area near Broad Street, Tuesday, February 4, 2020.
Crime scene unit looks over a car that was occupied by an undercover police sergeant when she was attacked by a man who shattered the driver-side window with a large object in the Hunting Park area near Broad Street, Tuesday, February 4, 2020.Read moreSTEVEN M. FALK / Staff Photographer

The man who attacked an undercover police sergeant Tuesday night in the city’s Hunting Park section was still at large a day later and another man with a gunshot wound who was originally identified as the suspect was cleared but remained in custody for an unrelated burglary, police said Wednesday.

The undercover sergeant, a 57-year-old woman with 23 years on the force, was sitting in an unmarked Toyota sedan in the 4200 block of North Park Avenue around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday when an unknown assailant shattered her driver’s-side window with a large, jagged stone-like object — possibly a chunk of concrete — and then reached into the vehicle punching the sergeant in the face and attempting to pull her out by the neck, police said.

While the sergeant was still inside the car, she fired four shots at the man, who then ran away, police said.

A short time later, police found a man with a gunshot wound to his chest approximately two miles away in the area of 13th Street and Lehigh Avenue. The sergeant was taken to that location and positively identified the man as her attacker. The man, whose name was withheld, was transported to Temple University Hospital and was reported in critical condition.

An internal police investigation has since determined that the man was not the attacker. Police did not know whether the attacker was struck by the sergeant’s gunfire.

“At this point, the investigation has cleared the male who was taken into custody yesterday of the assault” on the undercover sergeant, the Police Department said in a statement Wednesday.

The man was still in custody for allegedly breaking into a home in the 1200 block of Lehigh Avenue just before he was apprehended by police.

That incident was being investigated by the East Detective Division, which also was working to determine who shot the man.

The sergeant, whose name was not released, was treated at Temple hospital for scrapes and bruises and released.

Police asked that anyone with information that could help with the investigations to call 911 or 215-686-TIPS.