Philly cop will lose job for allegedly shooting at car, hitting Temple Hospital window
Officer Ross Scott is accused of firing three shots at four people inside a Chevrolet Monte Carlo last year, one bullet flying into the hospital lobby.
A Philadelphia police officer was suspended Thursday with intent to dismiss for allegedly firing his gun at people in a car while off-duty last year, causing at least one bullet to fly into a lobby at Temple University Hospital.
Officer Ross Scott, 43, a nine-year veteran assigned to North Philadelphia's 22nd District, is accused of firing three shots at a Chevrolet Monte Carlo around 11:15 p.m. May 31, 2016, after he was thrown from his motorcycle when the car's driver made a turn across Broad Street and collided with Scott.
Scott, who had been on desk duty since the incident, turned himself in Thursday morning and was charged with four counts each of aggravated assault, simple assault, and reckless endangerment, said Cameron Kline, spokesman for the District Attorney's Office. A police spokesman said Scott faced four counts of each because four people were in the car.
Scott is the fifth officer in the last month to face dismissal from the 6,300-member force. Allegations against the others include starving a dog, possessing child pornography, striking and killing a pedestrian while drag-racing, and allegedly punching one officer's wife and chasing her while on duty and in a patrol car.
Police said last year that Scott had approached the driver after the crash and identified himself as a police officer. But the motorist, authorities said at the time, drove away and dragged Scott alongside the car. Police also reported last year that Scott said he opened fire after seeing the driver — whom they did not identify — reach for a weapon.
But authorities offered a different account Thursday, saying surveillance video showed that after the crash, Scott "immediately removed a firearm and, from a kneeling position facing the driver's window, pointed his weapon at the driver's window," causing the motorist to drive away.
Scott fired three times, police said, and at least one shot smashed through a window at the Tioga Street entrance of Temple University Hospital's Outpatient Services Center. No one at the hospital was hurt.
The car was found about a mile away, on the 600 block of West Cambria Street. No weapon was found.
Court records were not immediately available to show whether Scott had retained an attorney.