Police are investigating whether two convenience store holdups in Rhawnhurst early Sunday morning are related.
In the first robbery, police said two men went into the 7-Eleven on Cottman Avenue near Pennway Street about 2:30 a.m. and held up the store. Police have not confirmed reports that the men used a crowbar to perpetrate the robbery.
Not long after and about a mile and a half away, police said they were called to the Wawa at Castor and Solly avenues, also in Rhawnhurst, for the report of a robbery there.
It was unclear early Sunday whether the same bandits were responsible for both robberies, and police continued to investigate.
Police are searching for three men who they say burst into a West Philadelphia apartment and assaulted and robbed a man inside early Sunday.
Officers were called to an apartment building on Chestnut Street near 47th just after 2 a.m., police said. A man was inside the apartment when three men burst in through his front door, assaulted him and stole his wallet, two cellphones and car keys.
The three bandits fled before police arrived. Investigators continued to search for them later Sunday.
The victim suffered injuries to his eye and lacerations to the right side of his rib cage and was taken to a local hospital for treatment. He was in stable condition.
A senior citizen high-rise apartment building in Philadelphia's Nicetown neighborhood caught fire Sunday morning.
Fire crews were called to Opportunities Tower, on Hunting Park Avenue near Clarissa Street, shortly after 8 a.m. Fire officials confirmed a fire at the apartment building, which is an independent living center for seniors.
The scene was quickly cleared and residents were allowed back into the building. No injuries were reported in the minor incident.
A local high-school wrestler made history this weekend when she wrestled in the match that led the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to change its rules to allow co-ed wrestling.
Tatyana Ortiz, a 106-pound freshman wrestler from Mariana Bracetti Academy, took on Father Judge’s Tim McCall in the history-making match at Archbishop Carroll High School in Wayne. She was the first female wrestler to qualify for the tournament.
Ortiz qualifying for the match inspired the Archdiocese to amend its rules. Before, the Philadelphia Catholic League did not allow co-ed wrestling, and any boys scheduled to wrestle girls were forced to forfeit.
In the end, Ortiz lost the match, ending her season. Her coach praised her season, saying she fought hard.
Altercations at a West Philadelphia bar left two employees suffering from stab wounds overnight.
The drama unfolded at the Studio 7 Bar, on 60th Street near Spruce. In the first incident, police said a 34-year-old man was working at the bar about 1:45 a.m. when a customer got into a dispute with him over food, pulled a knife and stabbed him in the chest.
That employee was taken to a local hospital to be treated for his wounds, and was listed in stable condition.
A few hours later, police discovered a second stabbing victim who was attacked at the same bar being treated for a wound at Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital. Police said that man, a 36-year-old, was working as a bouncer at Studio 7 when a man stabbed him while he was breaking up a fight.
The bouncer was treated for a stab wound to his left tricep and released.
Police reported no arrests in either stabbing, and it was unclear Sunday if both attacks were committed by the same perpetrator.
A Mercer County, New Jersey town continues to push for body cameras for its police department.
Hamilton Township Mayor Kelly Yaede submitted a request to the Township council to purchase body cameras for police. If approved, the Hamilton Township Police Department would begin using the cameras within the first half of this year.
“Body cameras will protect both our Police officers and our residents, building even further upon the high level of cooperation that already exists between our law-abiding citizens and our Police Department,” Mayor Yaede said.
Under the plan, Hamilton Township would begin a 5-year contract with Taser for 120 police body cameras that would be replaced at the 2 ½ year mark as well as equipment and unlimited cloud-based storage.
Officials say the cost for the cameras and equipment in the first year would be over $194,000 and then drop to around $100,000 in each of the next four years. The town also plans on using a $60,000 Attorney General Body Worn Camera Grant to help fund it.
The Township Council will officially receive the funding request at a public meeting on March 1.
A burglar in South Jersey who crept into a house while its residents slept over the weekend may have thought he was getting away without being detected.
But he thought wrong.
The family's surveillance cameras captured the man entering and leaving the house on Wyoming Drive in Toms River, police said. Toms River Police on Sunday released stills from the video, which show a clear picture of the burglar's face. In one shot, he has purses tucked under his arm and a hood pulled over his head as he leaves the house.
Police said the burglary happened just before 4:30 a.m. Saturday while the residents of the house, including children, were asleep. Now, they're asking the public's help to identify the crook caught on camera.
He's described as a white man possibly in his early to mid-20s who wore a zip-up Champion hooded sweatshirt, jeans and what appeared to be striped Adidas flip flops.
Tipsters should contact Det. James Carey at 732-349-0150 ext. 1292 or Det. Thomas DiMichele at ext. 1333.
A Camden teenager died from his injuries following a shooting that police say was sparked by an altercation during a party at a motel in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
Cherry Hill Police were called to the Inn of the Dove on the 700 block of Cuthbert Boulevard Sunday around 2:25 a.m. for a report of a person shot. When they arrived they learned two shooting victims had been driven by a private vehicle to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Camden.
One victim, 17-year-old Jadyre Gordon of Camden, was transferred from Our Lady of Lourdes to Cooper University Hospital where he later died from his injuries. Another victim, a 20-year-old Willingboro man, was treated at Our Lady of Lourdes and later released.
Investigators determined Gordon and the second victim were shot inside a vehicle in the parking lot near the front entrance of the Inn of the Dove following an altercation at a party in one of the rooms. No arrests have been made. Police continue to investigate.
If you have any information on the shooting, please call Camden County Prosecutor’s Office detective Jim Brining at 856-225-8439 or Cherry Hill Police detective Ed Williams at 856-488-7828.
