Hearing for suspect
is moved to January

The preliminary hearing for the man charged with killing two armored-car guards outside a Northeast bank has been continued to next year.
The hearing for Mustafa Ali, 36, also known as Shawn Steele, is scheduled for Jan. 16 at 8:30 a.m. in the Criminal Justice Center in Center City.
Ali, of the 3800 block of Woodhaven Road, was arrested the day after the Oct. 4 robbery and shooting of Joseph Alullo, 54, and William Widmaier, 65, both of Bucks County.
The former 7th Police District officers had been servicing an ATM for the Loomis armored-car company at a Wachovia Bank at Bustleton and Bleigh avenues when the 8 a.m. slayings took place.
Police apprehended Ali with the assistance of a warrant that was issued out of Middletown, Bucks County, that accused the suspect of writing a bad check to purchase a car allegedly used in the robbery. A resident at the Woodhaven Road apartment complex where Ali lived also tipped police to the presence of a black Acura similar to one sought by investigators.
Philadelphia police charged Ali with two counts of murder.
Court records show that in 1993, Ali, a former Drexel University engineering major, and two other suspects were charged in connection with eight Philadelphia bank robberies that netted more than $25,000.
Ali pleaded guilty to the charges and served six years in prison, gaining his release in 1999. ••