A 17-year-old West Philly resident faces assault and robbery charges in connection with two gunpoint robberies this week along 50th Street between Hazel and Walton Avenues.
The unnamed teen allegedly held up a woman at gunpoint at about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday near 50th and Hazel and another person yesterday near 50th and Walton, according to police spokesperson Tanya Little.
The victim of Tuesday’s attack said a neighbor found her purse in her yard and guided detectives to a house near 52nd and Cedar “which appeared to be occupied by minors without adult supervision,” she said by e-mail. Police reportedly found her wallet and i-Phone in the house along with evidence from other robberies.
The victim, a 28-year-old woman named Jen, said that the person who stole her wallet on Tuesday used her debit card to buy clothing.
“[He] was wearing the exact designer apparel brands that he purchased via my debit card,” she wrote.
Beer lovers have a new place in West Philly to call home. Local 44’s bottle shop opened this afternoon to a throng of beer drinkers and bystanders who crowded the shop adjacent to the bar at 44th and Spruce to get a look at the estimated 500 different beers on sale.
The shop includes a small bar that will always have two casks on offer. But the biggest draw will be the mighty beer selection in a wall of coolers and a special upstairs nook that houses mostly large bottles ranging in price from under $10 to more than $70. Most of the bottles in the cooler are loose and priced individually, so mixing and matching six packs is encouraged. They have plenty of six-pack carriers on hand.
By the way, there is a hallway that leads from the Local 44 bar next door to the bottle shop, but the use of it by anyone except staff is frowned upon. Consider yourself warned.
The hours for the shop are:
Monday-Thursday, Noon-10 p.m.
Friday and Saturday, Noon-Midnight
Sunday, Noon-10 p.m.
Check out the short slideshow for other views inside the shop:
A handful of candidates for state offices will be in West Philly tonight to talk about statewide issues, including school vouchers and the voter ID law.
Roebuck’s opponent in the April 24th primary, Fatimah Loren Muhammad, pulled out of the forum at the last minute, according to 27th Ward Leader Carol Jenkins. Muhammad, whose Obamaesque campaign posters have popped up all over West Philly, is a proponent of school vouchers, which Roebuck opposed as the Democratic chair of the Education Committee.
The forum will include a brief address by each candidate and a Q and A session.
Several heavily damaged vehicles remained along the eastbound lane of the 4700 block of Spruce Street this afternoon after an early morning accident that sent a SEPTA bus careening out of control and into a row of parked cars.
A westbound Route 42 bus collided with an SUV that ran a red light at 47th and Spruce at about 4 a.m., according to 6ABC. The driver, who along with four others was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania for “non-life threatening” injuries, lost control of the bus. The collision pushed the bus into a tree and nearby parked cars. About a dozen cars in all were damaged.
The Spruce Hill Community Association last night unanimously supported a proposal to replace the Risque adult video shop at the corner of 43rd and Chestnut with an “upscale” liquor store.
SHCA members expressed hope that the liquor store, which the state would like to move into the 5,000-square-foot Risque property in the Chestnut Street Plaza, would be similar to the “super store” at 1218 Chestnut St. and would not serve pints, half-pints or fortified wine. The proposed store would also replace the adjacent check cashing place.
Last night’s vote, which came during the association’s regularly monthly meeting, followed a widely reported zoning committee meeting earlier this month.
The proposed store has attracted support since the closure earlier this year of the Wine and Spirits store at 4049 Market St., sending many shoppers to the often crowded shop near 49th and Baltimore. A new store at 43rd and Chestnut, one member pointed out, would provide service to the growing number of BYOB restaurants in the area.
But there is also opposition to the store, mostly from Muslim residents who live near the Chestnut Street Plaza. Some 40 people attended the earlier zoning meeting to voice opposition, though that was not included in most reports. The plaza also includes a halal restaurant and butcher shop. The Masjid al-Jamia mosque is a block away on 43rd and Walnut.
The SHCA vote has no legal ramifications but provides a sign of community support for the liquor store, which could open within a few months. SHCA members also voiced hope that the state’s interest in the location might provide a chance to improve the lighting and outside aesthetic of the plaza.
A growing number of West Philly residents are trying to get “The Fuzz” back online.
Resident Amara Rockar has started an online petition aimed at persuading police Commissioner Charles Ramsey to allow Detective Joseph Murray to start tweeting again. Murray’s Twitter account, which has provided timely updates on crime and public safety for several years, has been offline since Jan. 11.
“Detective Murray’s use of Twitter is exactly the kind of useful and positive police-community interaction that the Philadelphia Police Department should encourage, not silence,” the petition reads. “Please approve his Social Media use under his official title immediately so that his updates to our community may resume.”
Murray’s Twitter account fell victim to the police department’s skittishness about its officers using social media publicly.
Murray’s updates on crime were invaluable for citizen awareness.
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