Trial opens in 2013 shooting of Philly policeman

ON AUG. 13, 2013, Eric Torres made a number of bad decisions - from fleeing a cop during a traffic stop to crashing his BMW into a wall to bringing a gun into a Feltonville store - that led to him shooting a police officer during a violent confrontation, a prosecutor told a jury yesterday.

In the Almonte Mini Market, at 4th and Annsbury streets, kitty-corner from his Raymond Street home, Torres paced the aisles watching to see if cops would go to his house, Assistant District Attorney Lou Tumolo said in his opening statement.

When he saw a cop car pull up, he tried to escape through a back door, but was stopped by an officer. Torres was gripping his gun at his waist, and soon four cops were in the store struggling with him, the prosecutor said.

"Everybody hits the floor," Tumolo said. Torres is "kicking, disobeying police commands."

Torres pulled out his .45-caliber Glock and fired "that nearly fatal shot into the stomach of Officer [Edward] Davies," the prosecutor said, showing the black gun to the Common Pleas jury of nine women and three men.

Torres, 33, is on trial on charges of attempted murder and multiple counts of aggravated assault, assault on a law-enforcement officer, weapons, drug charges and related offenses.

After the shooting, Davies, then 41, a married father of four, spent a little more than a month at Temple University Hospital, where he underwent surgeries that included removal of a kidney.

Defense attorney Eric Zuckerman told jurors that although Torres fled carrying a gun, he didn't try to kill a cop.

"Eric Torres never pulled that trigger," Zuckerman said. "Eric Torres was doing everything he could to avoid a confrontation with police officers - very aggressive police officers."

Officer William Barr testified that he had stopped Torres at 5th Street and Allegheny Avenue in North Philly shortly before noon that day because one of the BMW's brake lights was out.

As Torres handed over his license, registration and insurance card, "he seemed kind of nervous," Barr said, so Barr opened the driver's-side door of the car and asked Torres to get out.

Instead, Barr said, Torres closed the door and drove off at a high speed.

Tumolo said that Torres then slammed his BMW into a wall at Rising Sun Avenue and Bristol Street in Feltonville. After climbing out of the car window, he reached back in to get his gun, then ran several blocks to the market, the prosecutor said.

He said cops found thousands of dollars' worth of heroin in Torres' house and in the BMW.