Undercover cop shoots would-be robber in U. Darby

An Upper Darby woman was arraigned today on charges she helped two male companions pull off the armed robbery of a pizza deliveryman late last night in Delaware County.

Emily Vagnoni, 20, of 7200 block of Hilltop Road, Upper Darby, appeared before Magisterial Court Judge John J. Perfitti at noon to face two sets of charges on robbery, theft, assault and reckless endangerment.

One set of charges pertains to last night's armed robbery at 71. S. Harwood Ave., the other to a similar crime on Nov. 11 nearby at 61 S. Brighton Ave., both in Upper Darby, the judge said.

Vagnoni, a petite woman, seemed dazed as she answered Perfitti's questions in a low voice. She was held on ten percent of $200,000 cash bond for a preliminary hearing at 8:30 p.m. Nov. 25.

Her alleged co-conspirator, Paul Anderson, 22, of the unit block of S. Harwood Ave., Upper Darby, was scheduled for arraignment today at his bedside at the University of Pennysylvania Hospital in Philadelphia.

Anderson was in serious but stable condition, according to Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood, with a gunshot wound of the right upper arm. The bullet entered and exited Anderson's arm during the incident.

Chitwood, in a news briefing this morning, gave this account of last night's incident:

Officers went to Verona Pizza on W. Chester Pike after receiving a call from a pizza shop owner. Fanis Facas told officers he suspected someone was going to rob his pizza delivery man because Facas called back the food orderer's number and it was blocked.

At 11:50 p.m., Detective Michael Pecko, posing as the delivery man, took the order to 71 S. Harwood Ave. Almost immediately, he was "bull-rushed" by a man wearing a knit hat and bandana, Chitwood said. The man had been hiding in some bushes.

The man was holding a silver handgun, and told Pecko: "Give me your f--- money."

Pecko pulled out his police badge and revolver, and said, "Police." When the man wouldn't stop, Pecko fired one shot, which felled the man. Police took a man they said was Anderson into custody at the robbery scene.

"Sorry I tried to rob you, it was for drugs," Anderson told police, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

Police saw a second man carrying a baseball bat get into a green van waiting nearby. It was operated by a woman who began driving away.

Officers gave chase and pulled over the van at Lansdowne Avenue and Township Line Road. The passenger fled on foot, but police arrested a woman they identified as Emily Vagnoni.

Chitwood likened Anderson and Vagnoni to "Bonnie and Clyde."

"He was the stickup man, she was the driver," Chitwood told reporters.

Anderson was treated at the scene for a gunshot wound and then taken to the hospital. While en route, he told police: "That was the dumbest thing ever. Never thought I would get shot on my street. Drugs are horrible. Tell the cop I'm sorry," according to the affidavit.

Chitwood would not identify the third man, but said: "We know who he is. We will get him."

The superintedent lauded Pecko's work. "He certainly put himself in harm's way." Pecko is a certified range and firearms instructor as well as a sharpshooter, Chitwood said.

Upper Darby, like many places in the Philadelphia, has experienced robberies of delivery personnel for both pizza and Chinese food shops, Chitwood said.

Asked if the arrests last night would help stop the crime, Chitwood said no.

"We see this over and over again," Chitwood said. He said the take-home message is: "These guys that are out there stealing and robbing and pilaging better be careful because the next person they rob may be an undercover cop."