UPDATE (Thursday, Jan. 19): A suspect was detained Tuesday near 40th and Walnut, according to police. At approximately 11 a.m., one of the robbery victims observed a male in the area who he recognized as the male who had robbed him earlier that morning. He called 911, and the male was stopped by responding officers and positively identified by the victim. The male was later identified as 56-year-old Larry Brown. He was arrested and charged with robbery, terroristic threats and related offenses.

Police are investigating a series of gunpoint robberies that took place between 8:30 p.m. on Monday and 7:05 a.m. on Tuesday between 43rd and 47th Streets and Spruce St. and Cedar Ave. A total of four robberies were reported, and police believe they were committed by the same suspect, described as a black male, about 5 feet, 6 inches, with a thin build and a beard, wearing a maroon hooded sweatshirt, shorts, and spandex tights.

The first robbery took place in Garden Court at about 8:30 p.m. on Monday when a 38-year-old woman was approached by an unknown male on Pine St. between 46th and 47th. The man showed the woman a gun and demanded her purse which contained her cell phone, debit/credit cards, checkbook and cash. The man also indecently assaulted the woman before fleeing in an unknown direction, according to a police report.

UPDATE (1/17/2017): Police have recovered surveillance video from inside the store. The video shows an unknown black male wearing a green hooded jacket entering the store, pulling out a handgun and directing the victim, 16-year-old Sean D-Jones, to the floor. After several minutes talking on a cell phone, with Jones still on the floor, the suspect shot him one time in the head, according to a police report. After shooting Jones, the suspect calmly walked out of the building and headed north on N. 52nd Street towards Haverford Ave. The victim’s father was in the back of the storefront residence during the shooting. He heard a “thump” and minutes later discovered his son bleeding on the floor, according to the report.

Police are searching for the gunman who shot and killed a 16-year-old youth on Sunday afternoon in West Philadelphia.

The victim, identified as Sean-D Jones, was inside his father’s store, Gary Global Links Video Productions, located on the 200 block of N. 52nd Street, when someone entered the store and shot him once in the head shortly after 12 p.m., according to police. The teen was critically injured and died at a local hospital a short time later, according to reports. So far no arrests have been made.

Jones and his older brother recently immigrated to the U.S. from Jamaica, according to reports. 6ABC spoke to Jones’ brother, Shaquille Jones.

The City of Philadelphia will pay $4.4 million to Philippe Holland, the pizza delivery driver who was shot several times in April 2014 in the Cedar Park neighborhood by two police officers who thought he was involved in a shooting.

         Philippe Holland

The settlement is the largest in the city’s history for a victim of a police shooting, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

“We will strive to ensure that tragedies such as this do not happen again in our City. The Philadelphia Police Department has agreed under the settlement to implement a new training protocol for all current and new plainclothes police officers,” City Solicitor Sozi Pedro Tulante said in a statement released today by the Mayor’s Office.

Holland had just delivered a pizza to a home near 51st and Willows at about 10 p.m. on April 22, 2014 when two plain-clothes officers, Mitchell Farrell and Kevin Hanvey, approached him with their guns drawn. Farrell and Hanvey were investigating a shooting in the area. Fearing a robbery, Holland ran to his car and tried to drive away. The officers opened fire, hitting Holland in the neck, head and leg while he was behind the wheel. Police regulations prohibit shooting at a moving vehicle.  Continue Reading

New Hamilton Court streetscape rendering.

In August 2016, the Post Brothers, the real estate company that has acquired a number of residential properties in University City in the past year, revealed their plans and renderings for the renovation of the historic Hamilton Court apartment complex at 39th and Chestnut Streets. Currently, the company is in the process of making upgrades to Hamilton Court, which was one of Philadelphia’s first apartment buildings when it was built in 1901. The renovations include the conversion of vacant ground-floor space into modern commercial retail spaces, which will be occupied by five dining establishments.

On Wednesday, the developers revealed the restaurants that signed leases for those spaces. Here they are:

• Steve’s Prince of Steaks, one of Philadelphia’s most famous cheesesteak restaurant chains, has signed a lease for 2,277 square feet.  Continue Reading

Forty-six people were injured this afternoon when two trolleys collided near 38th and Lancaster in Powelton, according to SEPTA and media reports. Two Route 10 trolleys were traveling in the same direction when one rear-ended the other, according to a report by Metro. The incident was reported at around 1:30 p.m.

Fortunately, none of the injuries is life-threatening, according to SEPTA spokesman Andrew Busch. Some of the injured were taken to local hospitals for treatment. The trolleys were traveling at low speeds when they collided. Among those injured were the two trolley drivers.

One of the trolleys sustained damage in the collision, Metro reports.

Scribe Video Center, the West Philly-based non-profit organization with a nearly 35-year-old history, is moving from 42nd and Chestnut to a new location this month. Beginning Jan. 17, Scribe will be located at 4035 Walnut St., according to information posted on the organization’s website and social media pages.

Here are some other exciting news and happenings at Scribe, which offers film screenings and educational opportunities to individuals and communities who want to learn media making and explore the use of video.

Last month, Scribe received a $25,000 Art Works grant for 2017 from the National Endowment for the Arts. The grant will go towards a collaborative project, curated by Patricia R. Zimmermann, to highlight community-produced media work from across the country. The goal of the project is to collect works of artistic and historical value and then go on tour with the exhibits.  Continue Reading