Cops hunting man in gas-station assault

Cops hunting man

in gas-station assault

* Fox Street near Westmoreland

Police posted surveillance footage of a man who assaulted a mentally handicapped gas-station employee, in the hope that help from the public will lead to an arrest. About 11:30 a.m. Nov. 15, police said, a man in the parking lot of Uncle Willie's Gas Station, in Tioga, got into an argument with the employee outside the building.

Cops gave this account:

The man retrieved a bottle from a white work truck he was driving and walked back into the gas station.

Then he sprayed an unknown substance into the clerk's eyes and ran off.

The substance caused a burning sensation in the man's eyes, but he otherwise was not injured. The victim told police that the suspect also shouted racial slurs at him.

The suspect fled in a white work truck, possibly a Ford E159 or a Chevy Express, with a Pennsylvania license plate possibly containing the numbers 3007, police said. He was last seen driving north on Roosevelt Boulevard.

Police described the suspect as a white man between 40 and 50 years old, medium build.

He was clean-shaven with long, gray hair, and wore a gray, long-sleeve shirt, blue jeans and work boots.

Tipsters should call 215-686-TIPS (-8477)

Cops: Mad robbed same store twice * Grays Ferry Avenue

near 30th Street

A store clerk who was robbed in late October came face to face with the bandit again Dec. 15 during a second armed robbery, police said.

Cops posted a video of the incident in hopes that help from the public will lead to an arrest.

They gave this account:

About 7:10 p.m. Dec. 15, a man walked into the Golden Sports store demanding cash.

The clerk recognized the man from a robbery Oct. 27 and told the man to leave, but the man grabbed the clerk, pulled out a knife and demanded cash from the register.

The clerk pulled out $120 from the register, and the hoodlum robbed the clerk of $80 of his own money before fleeing.

The suspect is described as a light-skinned black man in his mid-20s to early 30s, 5 feet 9, with a medium build.

Tipsters are asked to call 215-686-TIPS (-8477).

Man, 35, is shot in West Phila.

* 46th Street near

Lancaster Avenue

A 35-year-old man was critically wounded last night when he was shot in West Philadelphia, police said.

About 8:30 p.m., the unidentified man was shot once in his chest and was rushed to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Chief Inspector Scott Small said.

Police did not recover a weapon, and no arrests were made.

Police said the victim knew his attacker, but a description of the suspect was not immediately available.

Two witnesses were taken to speak with police in the Southwest Detective Division, Small said.

- Phillip Lucas