Results tagged “robbery”

We know it's Labor Day weekend and all, but man, there's some bad juju going around the Philadelphia area today. Our Asshole of the Week was just the tip of the iceberg.

I have a sort of Medicare attitude toward robbery. A lot of people I know have been held up for their wallets or had things lifted out of their apartments. For some, it was like an almost friendly business transaction--one fellow asked if he could get his driver's license back so he wouldn't have to stand in line at the DMV, and the thief acquiesced because nobody should have to suffer that hell. For others, it was simply terrifying.

Though robbery hasn't been charming for a while (it has been a long time since "The Highwayman"), these two unknown gents seem determined to make it as awkwardly lame as possible. The police are currently searching for two young men on BMX bikes wielding Uzis who began a crime spree on Tuesday. BMX bikes and Uzis? Really? Is that necessary?

• A proposed ban on plastic bags was defeated by City Council today.
• An early Rasmussen poll has Arlen Specter defeating Joe Sestak in the 2010 Democratic primaries for the US Senate.
• A series of armed robberies continue in West Philly. The most recent was at the liquor store at 49th and Baltimore.

• This morning's crazy storm is expected to return later in the day... just in time for rush hour!
• Police have caught the 59-year-old man suspected of robbing a Center City bank yesterday.
• A man was shot 25 times in South Philly last night.

God Bless John Oates. And his 'stache.

The Inquirer takes a closer look at the Philadelphia policeman who was shot the day before the shooting of Chuck Cassidy, by a gunman who then fled and ultimately drowned in the Schuylkill. They also put the incident in the larger context of criminals in Philadelphia getting released from jail only to commit more crimes and be arrested again, over and over. Meanwhile, another Philadelphia police officer was injured this weekend, this time by...

The "10,000 men: A Call to Action" campaign will get started in earnest on Saturday when they put the first 200 men on the streets. It'll be a field exercise for squad leaders, and apparently they'll also be doing a door-to-door campaign to alert neighbors of the effort. Then they'll be patrolling in South Philadelphia next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evening. John Lewis, the suspect in the murder of police officer Chuck Cassidy, was...

What's new and/or interesting on TV this week. Nova (Tue, 8PM-9PM, WHYY & WLVT) - This episode apparently consists mainly of footage of a war between termites and fierce, dragon-shaped army ants. The ants are used by a Cameroon tribe known as the Mofu to protect their huts and granaries from the termites. Good times! Wired Science (Wed, 8PM-9PM, WHYY & WLVT) - As always, a great big hodge podge of crazy applications of science...

Use caution if you're travelling around the area this morning - there's actually snow on the roads north and west of the city, and 2 to 7 inches in northeastern parts of the state, and the weather has already caused some accidents and downed power lines. Some schools are opening late or canceling their morning kindergarten; check out NBC10's full list of school closings here. Mayor Street, "once regarded as Public Enemy No. 1...

What's new and/or interesting in Philly theaters this weekend

As we're sure you've heard by now, Officer Charles Cassidy, who was shot during the attempted robbery of a Dunkin' Donuts in East Oak Lane yesterday, passed away this morning. Officer Cassidy, who was 54, leaves behind a wife and three children.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford begins with the last train robbery Jesse and Frank James did together, and already you can tell the lengths to which writer/director Andrew Dominik and his DP Roger Deakins have gone to create a new cinematic language for the Western. The night is pitch-black, and the light of the train shines through a late-autumn forest as if God himself were onboard. The inside of the train is cramped and claustrophobic, with passengers literally lying on top of each other. The scene crackles with the constant threat of violence. Dominik has a way of cracking open a genre staple and showing the simmering tension within.