Philly man charged with robbery after officer is body-slammed during arrest

Police on Wednesday captured a man with a long criminal history in connection with a violent assault that left a police officer in the hospital with broken ribs.

Perry Martin, 42, was taken into custody around 4 p.m. Wednesday near 28th and Morris Streets in South Philadelphia, said Capt. Laurence Nodiff, commander of South Detectives.

Martin, of South Philadelphia, faces charges of aggravated assault of a police officer, robbery, and other offenses.

Lt. Douglas Stanford, a 29-year veteran who was body-slammed when he tried to arrest Martin for shoplifting Tuesday afternoon, is in the hospital recovering from three broken ribs and a bruised lung. Nodiff said that Stanford was in a lot of pain, but that doctors expected him to make a full recovery.

Stanford went to a Rite Aid store at 15th Street and Moyamensing Avenue around 5:30 Tuesday to perform a routine security check, police said. Store employees told him Martin was taking items from shelves and putting them into a bag.

When Stanford tried to arrest Martin, police said, Martin reached behind him, grabbed Stanford, and flipped the officer onto his back, then fell on top of him. Martin fled on a bicycle.

Police looked at fingerprints and surveillance footage from the store, and talked to witnesses. They tracked Martin to the home of a relative who lived near 28th and Morris Streets, and arrived to find him walking down the street.

Martin has been arrested 22 times on theft and other offenses, Nodiff said.

"I personally feel that anyone who's been through the system this many times, it's very clear to me he should be incarcerated," he said.