Upper Darby officer shot four times by gunman

Blasting four shots into an Upper Darby police officer who fired back apparently wasn't enough for a man charged with attempted murder in the incident.

He told officers standing guard at his hospital bed that he wished he'd had a bigger gun.

"That's a direct quote: 'If I had access to my AK-47, I'd have killed all the cops on the scene,' " said Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood.

Both the police officer, Ray Blohm, 31, a married father of two young girls, and the suspect, Marvin Marmolejos, 27, of the 6700 block of Montgomery Avenue in Upper Darby, are expected to recover from wounds suffered in the shootout early Friday. Blohm was discharged from the hospital later in the day.

A 10-year department veteran, Blohm spotted Marmolejos in the parking lot of Brownie's Pub, near the 69th Street Terminal, just after 12:30 a.m. Marmolejos was drinking from an open container and appeared to be smoking a joint, Chitwood said.

Blohm, who had watched Marmolejos on several consecutive nights meandering in the area, known to police as a drug-dealing spot, approached him on foot. Marmolejos walked away. Blohm followed and ordered him to stop. Blohm then pulled out a Taser and threatened to use it if Marmolejos did not comply.

That's when Marmolejos wheeled around, pulled a .22-caliber pistol from his waistband, and began to fire, Chitwood said. The men stood about six feet apart.

Four bullets struck Blohm before he ducked behind a nearby vehicle. Two hit his lower back just below his bulletproof vest, one of them fracturing a vertebra. A third hit the vest at his shoulder, and a fourth sliced a wire of his portable radio before nicking his left thumb.

Blohm returned fire with his .45-caliber revolver, hitting Marmolejos in his right shoulder, right calf, and lower back, and grazing his right forearm.

Blohm chased Marmolejos, who ran south on Copley Road toward Chestnut Street, until he collapsed in the unit block of Copley. Blohm called for help on his cell phone, Chitwood said.

Marmolejos had fired all five rounds in the pistol's chamber. His explanation to two paramedics who treated him on the scene: "I had to shoot him. I had drugs on me," according to a police affidavit.

Police searched Marmolejos and found four sandwich bags full of marijuana, a small bag of crack cocaine, a digital scale, and an open knife. Police located the gun in a bush on Copley. Marmolejos does not have a permit for it, and police were trying to determine its origin. The handgun has not been reported stolen, Chitwood said.

Both men were transported to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Marmolejos was in stable condition, Chitwood said.

Blohm, meanwhile, went home with two bullets still lodged in his lower back, Chitwood said. Doctors may try to remove them later, but it does not appear that they damaged his spinal cord.

"We know at least probably 10 shots were fired back and forth, maybe more," Chitwood said. "He's very, very lucky."

Marmolejos was charged with attempted homicide, assault, drug possession, and other counts. He was arraigned and ordered held on $1 million bail. He has been arrested before on narcotics charges and a robbery charge, Chitwood said.

The last time an Upper Darby officer was shot was in the summer of 2004, when a gunman opened fire in the lobby of the police station. Lt. Anthony Paparo was hit in the shoulder by another officer's bullet. The gunman was killed.

In 2002, Officer Dennis McNamara was shot and killed by Thomas James "Tom Thumb" Campbell, a member of the Pagans motorcycle gang. Campbell is serving life in prison without parole.