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Trial to begin for accused cop-killer

WILLIAM FOSTER, of Levittown, jailed for nearly three years in the killing of Philadelphia police Sgt. Timothy Simpson, is scheduled to go to trial this morning.

WILLIAM FOSTER, of Levittown, jailed for nearly three years in the killing of Philadelphia police Sgt. Timothy Simpson, is scheduled to go to trial this morning.

Whether the fate of Foster, 44, is decided by a jury or by a guilty plea, the resolution of his case will close the book on a sad chapter in the history of the city's Police Department.

Simpson, 46, was the fourth officer slain on duty in 2008, and is among seven cut down since 2006.

Foster is the last alleged cop-killer to face justice in the cases. One man was given a death sentence, four were sentenced to life in prison without parole and a teenage boy was sentenced to 10 to 20 years behind bars. Two other men were slain by officers during the incidents.

Foster, a known drug addict with an extensive criminal rap sheet, mostly in Bucks County, was fleeing police when he allegedly crashed a stolen vehicle into Simpson's patrol car at Aramingo and Allegheny avenues on Nov. 17, 2008.

Simpson, a married father of three with 20 years on the force, died from the injuries he suffered in the fiery crash.

Foster's attorneys, Fred Goodman and Daniel Stevenson, from the Defender Association of Philadelphia, declined to comment.

Assistant District Attorney Gail Fairman said she expected that the case would get under way.

Blue Blues

Elsewhere in the Criminal Justice Center this week, men who once wore badges and blue uniforms are scheduled to be sitting at the defendant's table.

Kenneth Crockett, the K-9 officer who shocked the city in July 2010 when he was accused of stealing $825 from the bar where a fellow officer was slain during a 2006 robbery, goes on trial today, according to court records.

While investigating a burglary alarm at Pat's Cafe, at Castor Avenue and Arrott Street, in the lower Northeast, Crockett, 57, was recorded by a surveillance camera taking the money from an unlocked bar safe, police said.

Crockett, a 26-year veteran at the time of his arrest and termination, is charged with theft and receiving stolen property.

Assistant District Attorney Terri Domsky said that Pat's Cafe owner Pat Holloran and his employees will testify during the trial, which is expected to last two days.

Pat's has become something of a shrine for officers and others since Officer Gary Skerski was fatally shot there in May 2006 while trying to stop an armed robber.

On Thursday, Keith Corley is scheduled to have a preliminary hearing on rape and related charges stemming from the Aug. 11 on-duty incident that ended his four-year police career.

Corley, 27, is accused of picking up a woman in her 30s at a West Philadelphia bus stop at 3:30 a.m. and driving her to the Cobbs Creek area, where he allegedly raped her in the back seat of his patrol car.

The woman reported the incident later that morning. Corley, who was assigned to the 18th District, where the alleged rape took place, is free on bail. Crockett is also free on bail.