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Cops nab gun suspect

A wounded Rodney Smith, lying on a gurney in Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, didn't want cops to know his real name.

A wounded Rodney Smith, lying on a gurney in Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, didn't want cops to know his real name.

And for good reason. Smith, 46, who had been shot, was being sought by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on gun charges.

He signed himself out of the hospital and took off. Cops caught up with him Friday in South Philadelphia, and Smith can count himself lucky he didn't wind up getting shot again.

He allegedly had two guns and pointed them at pursuing officers. The cops showed considerable restraint in not shooting, said police spokesman Stephen Caputo.

"The whole thing started on April 20, when he was a shooting victim," Caputo said. . . . "When the police responded, [Smith] gave a fake name, and then goes into surgery.

"After his surgery, we went to talk to him and he gives the same name. We roll his fingerprints, and they come back that he had an outstanding warrant with the ATF."

Smith, who police say lived on 15th Street near Reed, South Philadelphia, was wanted on a charge of being a convicted felon in possession of a handgun.

"After we did our investigation, we go to confront him about the ATF warrant, and to let him know he was now a prisoner," Caputo said. "But he checked himself out."

"Officers see him on the highway, and attempt to confront him, and that's when he runs," Caputo said.

He said that Smith twice pointed guns at pursuing officers and that those officers had "used extreme restraint" in not shooting Smith.

"The officers continued to chase Smith, and he points the gun at them again. The officers were able to catch and subdue him."

Caputo said Smith dropped one of the guns when he was apprehended on 18th Street near Wharton. The other, a .22-caliber pistol, was found in the cruiser he Smith was placed.

Smith now also faces charges of aggravated assault, resisting arrest and recklessly endangering another person. *