Jeweler's killer leaves behind a long trail of mayhem

Kevin Turner was just 22 years old when he tried to rob William Glatz Jewelers Thursday morning and got killed in a shoot-out with the store's second-generation owner.

But in his short life, police said, Turner amassed an impressive record of mayhem, taking part in burglaries and stick-ups around the city.

He was cunning enough to escape from jail earlier this month, and incorrigible enough to turn almost immediately to armed robbery.

While Turner's criminal career is over, police are still seeking at least two accomplices in the attempted robbery of Glatz, an iconic jeweler that has done business for more than six decades on Rising Sun Avenue in Lawncrest.

"I feel very confident that we're going to get a break in the case and identify at least one of them," police Deputy Commissioner William Blackburn said Friday.

The store's surveillance cameras caught images of the second gunman, who ran from the store and got into the passenger side of a black car with dark-tinted windows. No one was able to describe the driver.

Store owner Bill Glatz, 67, was shot in the stomach and rushed to Albert Einstein Medical Center, where he died.

Glatz's father, William Glatz Sr., immigrated from Germany and started the jewelry store more than 60 years ago.

The jewelry store is located in a three-block commercial stretch of Rising Sun between Robbins Avenue Martins Mill Road known simply as "the Avenue."

Bill Glatz remained loyal to his Philadelphia roots, even after the family opened a second store in Bucks County and many of the Avenue's old family businesses closed or moved to the suburbs.

In the past 12 months, The Avenue has seen a bank robbery, two store robberies and four burglaries. Two employees at a Chinese restaurant were killed in a robbery in 2004.

Store owners, including Glatz, armed themselves in response to rising crime, said Sal LaValle, who owns Safes Unlimited across the street from the jewelers.

Glatz scared off a previous robbery attempt, neighbors said, and he fired at Turner with a .357 Smith and Wesson revolver.

Turner, whose last address was in the 100 block of East Lehigh Avenue in Kensington, had 13 priors arrests, including several for firearms and burglary charges. He was convicted in 2006 of a drug charge and sentenced to one to two years in prison.

Turner last was arrested in March after he and two other men walked into a Domino's Pizza in the 2600 block of North Broad Street and asked if they could buy store paraphernalia.

They also offered $100 to purchase one of the insulated bags that deliverymen use to keep the pizzas warm, Blackburn said.

Michael Vargas, an off-duty 22nd District police officer, was in the Domino's waiting to pick up some food at the time. He overhead one of the men say, "This would be great stuff for our next job," Blackburn said.

The employees refused to sell the men a warming bag, but Vargas summoned on-duty officers and relayed what he had heard.

A short time later, police stopped Turner and three other men in a Ford F-150 at 22nd Street and Sedgely Avenue. Inside the truck, they found Domino's Pizza hats and shirts, duct tape, masks and gloves.

Hidden under the hood, they found two handguns with obliterated serial numbers.

Detectives believe the men planned to commit home invasions or other robberies while dressed as pizza deliverymen.

"This was a fantastic job by the police officer who was off-duty," Blackburn said. "It was textbook of what we like to see."

Turner, already out on bail for two separate 2009 arrests, was held on $105,000 bail, until he disappeared from the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility on October 12.

Investigators were never able to confirm how he escaped, but they now believe that he hid in a truck leaving the loading dock adjacent to the jail's enormous kitchen facility.

Turner worked in the kitchen and was last seen there about 3 a.m. on October 12, according to Robert Eskind, the spokesman for the city's prison system.

There were no breaches to jail security - no broken doors or holes in the fence, he said.

"The truth is we have cameras throughout that area and he doesn't appear on camera after 3:12 that morning," Eskind said.

Two of the jail's contract employees were suspended for failing to note Turner's activities, and the investigation into the escape is continuing, Eskind said.

While escapes have been rare in the facility's 15-year history, this was the second in the past 11 months.

Six days after Turner escaped, the Cottman Gold Exchange in the 2400 block of Cottman Avenue was robbed. An employee was bound with duct tape and the robbers escaped with jewelry and about $2,400 in cash, police said.

The two suspects fit the description of Turner and his accomplice, Blackburn said.

If Turner and his accomplice were responsible for that robbery, which occurred on Monday, then they immediately started working on their next job.

Turner and his partner visited Glatz's on Tuesday and Wednesday, most likely casing the store, police said.

"They went to the store, they mingled around the merchandise, but they never made a purchase," Blackburn said.

Glatz employees recognized both men when they walked into the store sometime after 10:30 a.m. Thursday and announced a robbery.

Three employees, including Glatz, were working at the time. There were no customers.

A man Blackburn described as a jewelry "sales rep" also was in the store. That man was armed and attempted to pull his Walther 9 mm. The suspects ordered him to drop the weapon and he complied, Blackburn said.

A female employee who had worked behind the counter for 25 years was able to escape. She said she heard Turner tell his accomplice, "Shoot her! Shoot her!"

No one fired at her.

The woman was either able to call 911 or have someone else call, Blackburn said.

Glatz, who had been working in the back of the store, then emerged with his revolver. Glatz and Turner fired at each other. Turner was struck and fell to the floor.

The sales representative retrieved his gun and fired at Turner, who was still moving, but detectives won't know if that bullet struck Turner until after an autopsy, Blackburn said.

Turner had at least five different co-defendants in his various arrests, and detectives are checking to see if any of them were his accomplices this week.

Anyone with information on the suspects should call the Homicide Unit at 215-686-3334.