MORE TURMOIL FOR PROBLEM PHILA. COP

Officer Thomas Schaffling, a perennial problem child for the Philadelphia police, has landed on desk duty - again.

In the latest incident, Schaffling was drinking early yesterday at an after-hours Tacony club when he got into a fight with two bar patrons and fired his gun at them on the street, according to three police sources.

Schaffling told investigators that he fired shots at the men, missing both, after they attacked him at Torresdale Avenue and Wellington Street just after 3 a.m., the sources said.

In the past two years, Schaffling, 26, a member of an elite crime-fighting unit called "Strike Force South," has been at the center of several high-profile incidents of alleged misconduct:

* May 2008: Schaffling was linked to a May 5 police beating of three shooting suspects. That incident was captured by a Fox 29 news helicopter and broadcast around the world. The video shows Schaffling pulling driver Brian Hall out of a car. Schaffling then kicked Hall to subdue him. Schaffling was cleared of wrongdoing and put back on the street.

* August 2008: Schaffling clashed with guests at an outdoor baby shower in North Philadelphia. The guests claimed that Schaffling was at the center of the Aug. 9 police attack that injured at least six people, including children and women who were maced, struck with batons and pushed to the ground, witnesses said. Earlier this week, the city settled a federal civil-rights lawsuit brought by the victims.

* August 2008: About two weeks later, Schaffling and his partner pulled over two men who said they were headed to church, in West Philadelphia. The driver told NBC 10 that Schaffling aimed his gun at him and shouted, "I'm going to blow your f---ing head off." Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey again placed Schaffling on desk duty. An Internal Affairs investigation did not support the driver's complaint.

* March 2009: Schaffling set off a chain of events that ended with state Rep. Jewell Williams handcuffed, lying prone in the back of a police cruiser. Williams was detained by officers after he expressed concern for an elderly constituent in his North Philly neighborhood. Williams said he witnessed Schaffling become verbally and physically abusive to the man after the officer pulled over his car. When Williams identified himself as a state legislator and asked to speak with a supervisor, he said that another officer on the scene, Timothy Devlin, screamed obscenities at Williams and handcuffed him. Williams, who was not charged, was later released.

In yesterday's incident, Schaffling told investigators that he and the two men had gotten into an argument after leaving the Yik Yak club in Tacony. The duo then attacked Schaffling, repeatedly kicking and punching him, and the officer fired his gun in self-defense, Schaffling told investigators who arrived on the scene.

Ripped yellow police tape was still wrapped around a utility pole in front of the bar yesterday afternoon. Neighbors said police had been at the scene until about 11 a.m. Neighbors said they were awakened just after 3 a.m. by a few people who were arguing loudly on the street.

"I heard one of them say, 'You don't know who you're messin' with. I could kill you,' " a neighbor who requested anonymity said.

"Then I heard about four shots," he said. "After the shots I heard nothing . . . The cops came real fast."

"I heard yelling and arguing," said another neighbor, who was sleeping on the couch at the time. "That's not unusual around here. The only unusual part was hearing the shots.

"Thank God nobody was killed," she said. "I'm upset. I just can't believe it escalated to that."

Bartenders at Yik Yak said they weren't working the early-morning shift, and they wouldn't contact anyone who did work that shift to speak with Daily News.

Chief Inspector Anthony DiLacqua, who heads the Internal Affairs Bureau, said he couldn't comment.

At least two bar patrons who contacted the Daily News identified Schaffling as the officer involved. They said they knew him to be a good guy and a good cop.

Police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore said that an off-duty officer had gotten into an argument with bar patrons but didn't know what provoked it.

The two patrons, both 29, were taken into custody. No one has been charged, Vanore said.

Vanore said the officer discharged a semiautomatic Glock, but he didn't know whether it was the officer's service weapon.

Internal Affairs and Northeast Detectives are investigating. The officer has been placed on desk duty pending the outcome of the investigation, Vanore said.

Police sources said that Schaffling fired the shots and later got belligerent with officers who arrived on the scene and later with those at Internal Affairs.

Schaffling, who's been on the force since 2003, did not return a message left for him by the Daily News with his father, Gregory Schaffling. Paul Messing, the attorney who represented the baby-shower victims in their civil-rights lawsuit against Schaffling and the police department, said the city settled the suit this week. He declined to reveal the sum but said it's "a substantial monetary figure."

Messing said Schaffling is an example of what's wrong with the police disciplinary system.

"It's very disturbing that, given the history of this officer and the several high-visibility cases in which he's been involved, that meaningful disciplinary action has yet to be taken against [Schaffling]," Messing said. "The system is broken and the city needs to step back and address the problem now."

Staff writer Dana DiFilippo contributed to this report.