Gallery ambush no match for man, 83
Cops say 3 thugs staked out bathroom
John Gabel walked into a trap, plain and simple.
Of course, the 83-year-old had no way of knowing that three thugs had been staking out a men's room in the Gallery Wednesday afternoon, waiting for the perfect victim.
When Gabel shuffled in, they pounced.
Two of the creeps beat the World War II veteran unconscious and robbed him of $50, while a third acted as a lookout in the outside corridor, said Lt. George Ondrejka, of Central Detectives.
Seconds after the three suspects ran off, two mall patrons found Gabel on the men's-room floor. One ran for help, and surveillance footage showed the second man helping a dazed and confused Gabel down the hallway.
Ondrejka said Gabel was taken to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and placed in an intensive-care unit with a laceration to the back of his head and cuts in his mouth. He's since been upgraded to good condition.
The elderly East Falls resident regularly made trips to the Gallery for exercise, Ondrejka said. The fact that he traveled alone likely appealed to the attackers.
"These types of individuals are jackals who prey on the public, and they present a major problem for law enforcement," Ondrejka said. "We would like to get them off the street immediately."
Surveillance footage showed one suspect, a 6-foot-2 black man who wore a red Phillies cap, white T-shirt and baggy blue jeans, going into the bathroom about 10 minutes before the 4 p.m. attack.
The second suspect, a 5-foot-9 black man in a long blue polo shirt and blue jeans, joined him in the bathroom. The third suspect, a light-skinned black or Latino man with a beard, cut-off jeans and a black cap, waited in the corridor and seemed to use a cell phone to give his cohorts the all-clear for the attack, Ondrejka said.
Afterwards, "they strolled out of there like nothing was going on," the lieutenant said.
Police officers have been detailed to the Gallery since the beating, and security providers Allied-Barton have promised to beef up their presence at the mall as well, he said.
Tipsters can call 215-686-3093 or -3094. *
