Story From My Small Area Goes National

[W_Tracy_Parnell]

Escaped Convict Suspect in Ambush Shooting of Two New York State Troopers
Friday, September 01, 2006

FREDONIA, N.Y. — Two state troopers were ambushed in Chautauqua County and the prime suspect is escaped convict Ralph "Bucky" Phillips, state police said Friday.

Joseph Longobardo, 32, and Donald Baker Jr., 38, were shot at 6:10 p.m. Thursday, State Police Superintendent Wayne Bennett said. They were in critical condition early Friday.

"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."

Police believe Phillips, 44, who escaped from jail in April, has been traveling back and forth between Philadelphia and western New York, Bennett said. On Friday morning, police were checking vechicles on roads approaching the New York state Thruway.

Both troopers were shot once with what police believe is a high-powered rifle. One was shot in the back with a bullet that pierced his bullet-resistant vest and exited through his abdomen. The other officer was shot in the thigh and suffered massive blood loss due to a severed artery, Bennett said. Both men, based out of Troop G north of Albany, underwent surgery.

"It's clear to me the troopers were ambushed," Bennett said.

Neither trooper laid eyes on Phillips before they were shot. Neither returned fire. One radioed for help, Bennett said. Longobardo was transferred to Erie County Medical Center, and Baker was treated at Hamot Medical Center in Erie, Pa.

They were doing surveillance in the rural town of Pomfret. Phillips' ex-girlfriend, Kasey Crowe, who was charged last week with hindering prosecution for allegedly helping him, lives in Pomfret.

Phillips' daughter was charged last week with child endangerment, accused of letting Phillips near her children. Bennett said neither woman was in custody Thursday, either before or after the shootings.

Bennett, who flew from Albany to the state police barracks in Fredonia, ordered 75 additional troopers to help with the manhunt around western New York.

Phillips used a can opener to escape through the ceiling of the Erie County Jail on April 2, police said. He is 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 believed to be driven by Phillips.

Since his escape, Phillips has woven his way around Western New York, evading police and helping himself to food, clothes and guns in unattended homes and hunting cabins, leaving a telltale trail of stolen vehicles along the way.

Phillips is believed to have stolen about 15 cars since his escape and he is suspected in numerous burglaries, police said.

Most recently, he was suspected of stealing numerous weapons from a Chautauqua County gun shop last weekend and a nearby car, state police said.

A $50,000 reward offered for information leading to Phillips' arrest and conviction has so far not stopped friends and family members from helping Phillips avoid capture, police said.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,211642,00.html

 

[W_Tracy_Parnell]

I was glad to have FTA last night! Got to see (rare) news feeds from WIVB in Buffalo. They usually use microwave for most everything but them let them have the bird foe a while last night.

 

[Mr Tony]

dang

Its always weird to see a big thing like that locally (especially if you live in a smaller town and not a metro area)

Where I live (Shakopee, MN) we have a pretty big amusement park (Valleyfair) and they had a ride malfunction this year (went off the track) and that was weird to see all the news crews in my town. (even spookier when we had a murder on my block and I had to show like 5 fdorms of ID to get down my street (the cops wouldnt let me through)

 

[SatelliteGAL]

To be honest I am getting a little tired of the whole Bucky problem. In a nutshell...I agree he should be caught and sent to back prison. I dont agree that they should have taken a 4 week old nursing baby away from the mother to try to get at him.
Apparently a lot of people were upset about the many breaks in programming last night to keep saying the same thing. They made sure they told everyone they can go watch the entire program on their website.

 

[JimMcC]

Bucky

He should be sent somewhere permanently, but it's not prison.

 

[SatelliteGAL]

The reward is now $250,000

 

[W_Tracy_Parnell]

To be honest I am getting a little tired of the whole Bucky problem. In a nutshell...I agree he should be caught and sent to back prison. I dont agree that they should have taken a 4 week old nursing baby away from the mother to try to get at him.
Apparently a lot of people were upset about the many breaks in programming last night to keep saying the same thing. They made sure they told everyone they can go watch the entire program on their website.

The children were not taken away from the mother in order to "get at" phillips. The Police suspected that the mother was taking the children to visit Phillips and thereby placing them into a potentially dangerous situation. In any case, they have been returned.

 

[W_Tracy_Parnell]

New York State Trooper Shot by Escaped Convict Dies
Sunday, September 03, 2006

FREDONIA, N.Y. — One of two specially trained New York state troopers ambushed while searching for an escaped convict who once promised to "splatter pig meat" all over, died Sunday of his injuries, state police said.

Joseph Longobardo was shot in the leg Thursday night while staking out the property of a relative of Ralph "Bucky" Phillips. He died Sunday at Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo with his wife at his side, State Police Superintendent Wayne Bennett said at a news conference Sunday night.

The announcement came in the midst of one of the largest manhunts in New York history and as Longobardo's fellow troopers held a candlelight vigil for him and for Donald Baker Jr., the other trooper shot in the woods of Chautauqua County. Baker, who was shot in the back, remained in critical condition in a medically-induced coma, police said.

Longobardo, 32, had a leg amputated Saturday at a Buffalo hospital after suffering severe blood loss, police said.

Baker, 38, had his condition return to critical Sunday afternoon. That changed from the morning, when a spokesman for Hamot Medical Center in Erie, Pa., said his condition had been upgraded to serious. Baker was hit in the back by a bullet that penetrated his bullet-resistant vest.

The search continued for Phillips, Bennett said.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,211993,00.html

 

[drhydro]

dang

Its always weird to see a big thing like that locally (especially if you live in a smaller town and not a metro area)

I know how you feel. I live in a very rural area, the town I live in has around 700 people in it, the town just north of us (Belvidier VT) has only 220 people in it. 2 years ago during a drug deal gone bad in Belvidier (a trade of a gun for $20 worth of pot) a guy ended up killing 5 people. That is about 2.5% of the population of Belvidier. Talk about a shock for those of us who live up here for the peace and quiet.

Than last week in Essex Jct VT (about 30 miles from here) a guy is upset with his ex-girlfriend who is a teacher, he ended up shooting and killing her mother and then went to the school and shot a teacher who was not at all involved, killing her.

Just goes to show you how rampant violence has became in our society, even in the smallest of communities.

 

[navychop]

jimmcc: agreed.

 

[W_Tracy_Parnell]

Ralph 'Bucky' Phillips Manhunt Ends with Surrender
Saturday, September 09, 2006

CARROLL, N.Y. — A fugitive who once threatened to "splatter pig meat all over Chautauqua County" in upstate New York surrendered without firing a shot, ending a five-month manhunt for a career criminal suspected of shooting three state troopers, one fatally.

With helicopters circling above a field just over the Pennsylvania state line and SWAT teams and U.S. Marshals closing in, a gaunt and exhausted Ralph "Bucky" Phillips threw up his hands. Police ordered him to the ground, handcuffed him and sped him to New York state to face charges of attempted murder.

"The bottom line is the pressure was so great on him," said New York State Police Superintendent Wayne Bennett. "The game was up and he knew it."

Phillips' arrest Friday night capped a frantic day that included troopers firing at him as he hid in the woods along the state line.

For hours, police had methodically moved closer to him. Just before nightfall, 25 SWAT officers and 12 dogs swept through a field where he was thought to be hiding. He gave himself up around 8 p.m., police said.

Phillips, a 44-year-old career thief who has spent 20 of the past 23 years in state prison, was taken to a jail in Buffalo and was to be arraigned Saturday morning on a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. He will go to Chemung County later in the day where he will be arraigned on an attempted murder charge in connection with the shooting of a trooper in June.

Police have said he could face other charges including aggravated murder and assault, burglary and larceny.

Phillips, who had also threatened to commit "suicide by cop," was on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list. The threat to "splatter pig meat" was in a note he left behind for officers when he left the Chautauqua County Jail several years ago.

Since his escape, he twisted and turned his way throughout southwestern New York and northwestern Pennsylvania, stealing cars, burglarizing homes and camps and relying on acquaintances to stay free, police said. He may have stolen 41 guns from a New York gun shop, authorities said.

Friday's search started shortly before 2 a.m. in Pennsylvania when a police officer tried to pull over a car police said Phillips had stolen. After a short chase, the car crashed and Phillips bolted into the woods.

A half-hour later, Phillips stole a second car and drove back into New York, where troopers began a second chase, authorities said.

Phillips jumped out of the moving car and ducked into woods, zigzagging back and forth between New York and Pennsylvania, authorities said. Police dogs tracked his scent for several hours until he was spotted by two troopers, Bennett said.

As troopers approached, Phillips wheeled around with a pistol in his hand but did not fire, police said. One of the troopers fired an undisclosed number of shots as Phillips disappeared into the thick woods.

Phillips became the subject of a huge search after allegedly shooting a state trooper near Elmira in June. The trooper survived.

Then, authorities said, he ambushed and shot two New York state troopers on Aug. 31 as they staked out the home of Phillips' former girlfriend. One trooper, Joseph Longobardo, died on Sunday; the other, Donald Baker Jr., was in critical condition.

Bennett said Phillips surrender will help comfort the Longobardo family.

"Now this miserable creature will suffer for the rest of his life in the New York state prison system," he said.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,213139,00.html