Post by vinnypunditsheros on Sept 1, 2006 10:02:23 GMT -5
Why can't they catch this scumbag? He escaped from jail in April and his hillbilly inbred friends and family have been giving him food and shelter. His trash baby's momma has been arrested twice in the past week.
Last night he shot two state troopers with cop killer bullets. One almost had his leg blown off and the other was shot in the back. They were doing surveillance, I guess in a car.
Last night he shot two state troopers with cop killer bullets. One almost had his leg blown off and the other was shot in the back. They were doing surveillance, I guess in a car.
FREDONIA, New York (AP) -- Two state troopers staking out at the hometown of an escaped convict's girlfriend were shot in an ambush early Friday, authorities said.
Neither trooper saw the suspect, and neither returned fire, but one was able to radio for help, State Police Superintendent Wayne Bennett said. Both officers were hospitalized in critical condition.
"It's clear to me the troopers were ambushed," Bennett said.
Police believe the gunman was Ralph "Bucky" Phillips, who escaped from jail in April and is believed to have been traveling between Philadelphia and western New York, Bennett said. Since his escape, he has been suspected in the wounding of another state trooper, numerous burglaries and the theft of firearms from a gun shop.
Friday morning, police checked vehicles on roads approaching the New York state Thruway. Bennett ordered 75 additional troopers to help with the manhunt.
"It's time for Bucky Phillips to go back to jail. Enough is enough," Bennett said.
"He has made threats against police officers via other individuals who either we or the Pennsylvania State Police have spoken to, so it is my opinion that he clearly would be the number one suspect in the shootings," Bennett said.
The two wounded officers were doing surveillance Thursday evening in the rural western New York town of Pomfret, home of Phillips' ex-girlfriend, Kasey Crowe. She was charged last week with hindering prosecution for allegedly helping Phillips. Despite a $50,000 reward, friends and family members have not turned Phillips in, police said.
One trooper was hit in the back with a bullet that penetrated his bullet-resistant vest, Bennett said. The other was shot in the thigh and suffered massive blood loss from a severed artery.
Both officers, Joseph Longobardo, 32, and Donald Baker Jr., 38, were in critical condition, Bennett said.
Phillips, 44, escaped on April 2 from the Erie County jail, where he was sent for violating parole on a burglary conviction, police said. He is also wanted in the June 10 shooting of a state trooper near Elmira. Trooper Sean Brown survived after being shot in the abdomen as he approached a stolen car.
Since his escape, Phillips has evaded police, helped himself to food, clothes and guns from unattended homes and hunting cabins in western New York, and is believed to have stolen about 15 cars, police said.
Last weekend, Phillips was suspected of stealing several weapons from a gun shop and a car, state police said.