Phila. man, shot by police, faces charges
Charles Bryant, 28, was charged in the hospital. Police said he drew a gun on an officer in a pursuit.
Philadelphia police yesterday formally charged a West Philadelphia man wounded Thursday night after he allegedly drew a gun on a pursuing officer.
Charles Bryant, 28, who remained hospitalized with a gunshot wound to a leg, was charged with aggravated and simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, and a series of firearms counts, said Lt. Frank Vanore.
Bryant, of the 5200 block of Stiles Street, will not be scheduled for court appearances until he is released from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, processed by police, and fingerprinted, Vanore added.
Bryant, who police said had a history of more than a half-dozen arrests dating to 1995, was a passenger in a white Pontiac when it was pulled over near 56th Street and Girard Avenue by a 19th District police patrol shortly after 9 p.m. Thursday.
Police say Bryant, a parolee, ran from the car with an officer in pursuit. After about four blocks, Bryant turned down an alley in the 600 block of Sickles Street and allegedly drew a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol.
The pursuing officer shot once, hitting Bryant in a leg. Police did not identify the officer, who was not hurt and is on administrative duty until an internal investigation is finished.
Leo Dunn, a spokesman for the state Board of Probation and Parole, said Bryant was paroled May 12 and released into a community correctional center, or halfway house, in North Philadelphia.
Typically, Dunn said, paroled inmates stay in the halfway house until they find their own home or apartment and a job. Dunn said Bryant was released from the halfway house after he submitted an approved living plan.
Bryant's parole would have expired Dec. 16, Dunn added.
Bryant has spent much of his adult life behind bars, according to Philadelphia court records.
His first adult arrest, on April 27, 1999, appeared to involve an armed robbery and carjacking. Most of the charges were dismissed after Bryant pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and conspiracy, and was sentenced in December 2000 to 31/2 to 7 years in prison.
In June 2003, Dunn said, Bryant was released into a now-defunct Philadelphia halfway house in anticipation of parole. He escaped.
Bryant was apprehended in October 2004, and in September 2005 pleaded guilty to escape. He was sentenced by Common Pleas Court Judge Glenn B. Bronson to nine to 18 months in prison followed by two years of probation.