Arrests abound
in 15th district

By Diane Prokop
Times Staff Writer

Police caught and charged three men in connection with 18 residential burglaries in the Lincoln High School area, according to 15th Police District commander Capt. Frank Bachmayer.
The three, who live in the immediate area, pulled off 18 jobs between March 10 and May 18, 11 of which occurred between May 8 and 18.
"It was a good job by uniformed police and Northeast Detectives, who processed the fingerprint evidence," Bachmayer said.
A homeless man was also arrested for 11 burglaries in the Torresdale Avenue and Unruh Street area, occurring between May 8 and 20.
Citing another example of fine police work, Bachmayer announced that officers Daniel Gorman and David Pinkerton were selected as the May Officers of the Month for the apprehension of a suspect who was charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, violations of the Uniformed Firearms Act and other related charges stemming from a May 25 shooting.
Pinkerton had heard several shots in the area of Lyrics Night Club, 6521 Roosevelt Blvd. and observed two men with multiple gunshot wounds on the highway. He located witnesses and relayed flash information of the offender. Gorman observed a vehicle matching that of the assailants traveling at a high rate of speed on Harbison Avenue. He stopped the vehicle on the 6000 block of Charles St. and recovered a loaded handgun with eight live rounds from the vehicle’s front passenger door. The offender was identified by the shooting victims and witnesses.
Sgt. Richard Turzanski also gave folks an overview of Sunday’s counter-terrorism drill in the 19149 ZIP code, whereby postal workers and police delivered boxes that would have contained medicine in the event of a bioterrorism attack.
The drill involved 52,000 homes in neighborhoods with the 19149, 19144 and 19130 zip codes.
PDAC vice president Nancy Doerr announced that 200 youths have been brought to the 15th Police District curfew center at Frankford Group Ministry, 4620 Griscom St., since it opened on April 26.
Police bring curfew violators to the center, where they are evaluated by a social worker and parents are called to pick the offenders up.
Doerr also announced that the center, which has been open Thursdays through Sundays from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., won’t be open seven days a week in July as originally hoped.
According to Doerr, the center is operating with only seven active volunteers and they are not equipped. She called for PDAC members to step up and volunteer.
In other business, Yvonne Davis of the Johnson-UGO Foundation Library told PDAC attendees about the organization. The foundation library, located at the Johnson Memorial United Methodist Church Education Building, 3117 Longshore Ave., offers a wealth of information for non-profit organizations and others, who are seeking fund-raisers for foundation grants, guides to proposal writing, as well as an in-print and online directory of 88,000 foundations nationwide.
The library is open Mondays through Thursdays from 6 to 9 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. by appointment only. For more information, call 215-338-5020 or send an e-mail to johnsonugolibrary@yahoo.com
The next 15th PDAC meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, July 30, at the John Perzel Community Center, 2990 St. Vincent St. ••
Reporter Diane Prokop can be reached at 215-354-3036 or dprokop@phillynews.com