Four charged with trying to kill cops

Four men have been charged with trying to kill police officers last night in two separate incidents, one involving gunfire during a robbery, the other a stolen car.

Two police officers were hurt in the car incident and the driver of the vehicle and a suspect in the robbery were wounded by police bullets.

None of the injuries is life threatening, officials said.

The first incident unfolded about 6 p.m., when a man alerted two Highway Patrol officers to an alleged home invasion robbery in progress in the 1800 block of North 18th Street in North Philadelphia.

At the house, an officer overheard yelling and looked in a window, seeing a robbery taking place, according to police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore.

At least one of the robbers saw police and fired, prompting police to return fire, Vanore said.

Three men ran out of the rear of the house, but an officer was covering the back, and more shots were fired, Vanore said.

Wounded in the arm and arrested was suspect Lenford Fletcher, 31, of the 1200 block of Passmore St. in Oxford Circle. He was treated at Temple University Hospital.

Police arrested another suspect at the scene, but had to pursue a third man, before apprehending him about two blocks away, hiding in a yard in the 1700 block of North Gratz Street.

Those suspects were Mikle Eubanks, 29, of the 6700 block of Large Street in the city's Castor section, and Jason Graddick, 31, of the 1100 block of Windrim Avenue in Logan.

No one else was injured, police said.

The three were charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault burglary and other related offenses, police said.

The other series of events began around 9:30 p.m. with a traffic stop of a suspected stolen car at West Girard Avenue and North Broad Street in North Philadelphia, Vanore said.

After being stopped, the male driver took off before being hemmed in between two police cars, one in front and one behind, at 16th and Oxford Streets, Vanore said.

To escape, the driver first reversed, then went forward, striking and pinning two Highway Patrol officers, one of whom discharged his weapon and wounded the driver in the leg, Vanore said.

The man nevertheless managed to drive off, before being caught about 12 blocks away, in the 1900 block of North 25th Street.

Andrew Bell, 35, of the 3300 block of Kensington Avenue, was arrested and treated for a leg wound at Temple.

Bell has been arrested 38 times before, Vanore said. "He's got quite a list," he said.

Bell is now also charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault.

The officers, who were not seriously injured, were also treated at Temple.

Two officers from the 22d Police District assisted in the chases and apprehension of Bell, Vanore said.

The three officers who fired their weapons will be reassigned to administrative duties while the incidents are investigated internally, Vanore said.