Cops shoot at two men named Smith this weekend
Police officers fired at two men, both of whom were named Smith, in separate incidents in the city this weekend.
Police officers fired at two men, both of whom were named Smith, in separate incidents in the city this weekend.
In the first case, Richard Smith was struck once in the buttocks by police gunfire Friday night and listed in stable condition. In the second incident, Phillip Smith managed to escape injury despite an officer firing at him five times early this morning, according to police spokesman Lt. Ray Evers.
Around 12:30 a.m. today, two officers on patrol in a marked vehicle heard several shots coming from Franklin Place near Fairmount Avenue in North Philadelphia, Evers said.
The officers saw Richard Smith, 37, pointing a gun and chased him about a block away, where he turned and pointed the gun at the officers, Evers said. One of the cops fired five times, but missed each time, and Smith allegedly dropped his gun and ran in to a house.
After declaring him barricaded, SWAT team members gained entry to the house and took Smith in to custody without incident, Evers said. The gun Smith dropped was a 9mm Beretta loaded with nine rounds, police said.
Smith, of Erie Avenue near B Street, was charged with aggravated assault and weapons violations. Evers said police are trying to determine whether anyone was injured from Smith's initial gunfire.
In Friday's incident, two officers in a marked car pulled over a Buick Century around 9:33 p.m. on 31st Street near Diamond in Strawberry Mansion and the driver, Phillip Smith, 26, fled on foot as the officers approached his car, Evers said.
The cops chased Phillip Smith through a vacant lot and one of the officers, who believed he saw Smith with a silver automatic handgun, fired one time, hitting him in the buttocks, Evers said. Smith was taken in to custody and transported to Temple University Hospital in stable condition.
Police said they did not find a gun on Phillip Smith, but they did find a large quantity of narcotics in the vacant lot he ran through. Cops are still checking the roofs of area buildings, where they believe Smith may have thrown the gun, Evers said.
Evers said Phillip Smith, who is from 31st Street near Diamond, was charged with aggravated assault and weapons offenses even though a gun has yet to be found.
"If the officer articulates he saw a weapon and if he believes he threw it on a roof, they will charge him with aggravated assault and VUFA (Violations of the Uniform Firearms Act) and that's an issue with the court whether it will stick or not," he said.
Evers said there is no indication that Phillip Smith and Richard Smith are related.