Shoot-out injures Phila. officer, suspect

In a matter of moments, two suspected armed robbers crashed their getaway car in a Southwest Philadelphia neighborhood yesterday morning and exchanged as many as 60 shots with pursuing officers.

When it was over, a highly regarded beat officer was wounded in the mouth, and two men with more than 50 prior arrests were in custody.

Several hours later, police still were combing through evidence at 63d Street and Grays Avenue. Officers removed several guns and a large bag of cash from the suspects' Mazda, which had smashed into the back of a parked car.

The injured officer, Adrian Hospedale, was grazed by a bullet or bullet fragment in the upper lip and gum. He was in stable condition at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Hospedale was this year's recipient of the Philadelphia Daily News' Fencl Award, given for compassion, professionalism, and dedication.

"This is a reminder of just how dangerous it can be," Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey said at the hospital. "But, fortunately, this is an incident that turned out OK."

Hospedale is likely to be released today. He was in good enough spirits to joke with Mayor Nutter, one of his many visitors.

"We're not going to put up with this kind of crap," a defiant Nutter said at the hospital. "We're going to do our job. We're not going to live in fear."

One of the two suspects also was wounded in the shoot-out. Anthony Reid, 42, of the 500 block of Moore Street, was listed in stable condition at the hospital.

He was hit several times in a foot, a calf, and possibly a thigh, said Lt. Frank Vanore, a police spokesman.

The second suspect, Brian Williams, 51, of the 3900 block of D Street, was not injured. Both have been charged with robbery, aggravated assault, and weapons and other charges.

Those charges will be added to lengthy records for both men. Court records show Williams has had about 40 arrests since 1976. Reid has about 20 prior arrests.

Both men served prison time recently, but records do not indicate whether they were on parole.

Reid began serving a two- to five-year stretch in 2005 for assault and robbery. That conviction carried five years' probation.

The chase began about 10:30 a.m. when two men robbed a Pendum armored-car guard who was loading a store's ATM at 52d and Spruce Streets in West Philadelphia.

The robbers took the guard's gun and fled with a bag of cash in the black Mazda. The guard alerted a police officer in a marked car, and a two-mile chase began.

At 49th Street and Warrington Avenue, one of the men inside the Mazda fired at the cruiser.

The Mazda then went onto the eastbound Schuylkill Expressway before exiting at Passyunk Avenue and heading into the Elmwood section.

At 63d and Grays, the robbers failed to negotiate a left turn and crashed into the parked car.

A shoot-out ensued with five officers, all of whom fired. By procedure, they will be placed on desk duty while the investigation continues.

The chase ended in front of the African Islamic Community Center. Worshippers attending Friday prayers yesterday had to duck under police tape.

Hospedale's shooting came one day shy of the anniversary of the death of Officer Isabel Nazario, who was killed in a car crash and is one of a string of officers killed in the line of duty over the last two years.

"It was always scary when you have to come to the hospital for an incident like this," Vanore said. "It brings a lot of memories, and we're just happy that Hospedale is OK."

Hospedale, 43, is a West Philadelphia native and the son of a Housing Authority police officer. The 16-year veteran of the force also is an associate pastor at Wynnefield Baptist Church.

"All my life, I just wanted to make a difference," he said this year when he won the Fencl award. "I don't believe in negativity. To me, nothing is impossible."