Robbers pistol-whipped an attendant and made off with jewelry worth $90,000 from a Castor Avenue store on Dec. 5, said Capt. Frank Palumbo, commander of the 2nd Police District. The robbers also got away with $800.
Palumbo talked about the crime during the 2nd Police District Advisory Council meeting at the Philadelphia Protestant Home on Dec. 9. In a phone interview Dec. 11, the captain said a Middle Eastern man, a black man and a black woman entered the store on the 7600 block of Castor at about 3 p.m. on Dec. 5. They pistol-whipped a 47-year-old woman who was the only employee on the premises before fleeing with their haul. The captain said the longtime Castor Avenue business “seems to have been targeted.”
Members of police district advisory councils represent area civic, service and Town Watch groups as well as businesses, schools and churches. Their meetings with police officials are not open to the public, and focus on identifying criminal trends and crime hotspots as well as crime-fighting strategies.
Palumbo said crime in the district has been down when compared to the beginning of 2014, but added there have been a lot of armed robberies recently.
Further, he said, a couple on the 600 block of Adams Avenue recently fell victim to an age-old scam. Thieves posing as utility workers got into the couple’s home and proceeded to rob them, the captain said.
During previous PDAC sessions, police have said thieves frequently target older people and pretend to be PGW or Water Department workers who claim they have emergency reasons for wanting to get into homes. They either rob the seniors or distract them as accomplices enter and burglarize the homes.
PDAC members honored Kevin McGrorty and Padraic Feeney as Officers of the Month for October for quickly apprehending a robbery suspect on Oct. 17. The victim was robbed of his cell phone on Oct. 17, according to Dianne Murphy, the district’s community relations officer. McGroty and Feeney saw a man who fit the description of the robber, stopped him, patted him down, got him identified and put him under arrest.
The 2nd PDAC will next meet at 7 p.m. on Jan. 13 at the Philadelphia Protestant Home, 6500 Tabor Ave. ••
