2 shot in Yeadon evicting tenant

A man who was being evicted from his apartment in Yeadon, Delaware County, yesterday pulled a gun and shot the constable who served the eviction notice and the apartment manager, police said.

The gunman fled into Southwest Philadelphia and hid in a rowhouse at 1846 Conestoga St, but a host of cops tracked him down and arrested him as he attempted to get away out the back door, said Lt. John Walker of Southwest Detectives.

Authorities said that Tamarr Minor, 21, was being evicted from his unit in the Parkview Court Apartments on Alfred Drive at about 1:30 p.m. when he decided to resist.

Minor pulled a silver 25-caliber semi-automatic handgun and shot the constable, Carmen Damiani, and the apartment manager, Ted Hicks, one time each, said Yeadon Police Chief Donald Molineux.

Minor attempted to pull the slide back in the gun, perhaps to fire it again at a maintenance man who was with the apartment manager, but the pistol jammed, Molineux said.

The gunman ran out of the building and fled in a late-model, candy apple red Pontiac Grand Am GT. The car was registered in New Jersey and hadn't been located by cops last night.

Molineux said that although Damiani was armed he didn't have time to draw his weapon because Minor reacted so quickly.

Both wounded men were treated at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. They were listed immediately in critical condition but their wounds were not considered life-threatening.

After Minor was arrested, he was taken to the hospital and identified by the victims as the man who shot them, Walker said.

"The maintenance worker was able to leave the building quickly," Molineux said. "Hicks, after sustaining a gunshot wound to his upper torso, was able to pull out his cell phone and call 9-1-1."

Molineux said yesterday was the final day for Minor to pay his rent. This was the day he was going to be physically evicted by Damiani in an eviction process that began 30 to 45 days ago.

"A failure to pay rent is the primary reason" Minor, who lived alone, was being evicted, Molineux said. "I don't recall any other complaints of loud noise or other reasons.

"We're moving forward with the investigation to see if he has other law-enforcement contacts," he said.

People on the street were curious about the motive for the shooting.

"You hear that," one woman told another one. "He shot them over an eviction notice. Since when do you shoot someone over an eviction notice."

Molineux said that Parkview Court has 960 units, so eviction "is a common process down here."

"We never had a problem with constables in the past evicting people out of apartments," he added. "If they did feel they were going to have a problem, they would call us to assist them. We didn't receive a call until we responded here at 1:36 p.m. today."

Molineux said that Damiani, who works for Yeadon district court, has been "a dedicated constable for almost 25 years."

The shootings disturbed a number of residents. Salome Saah, 24, a resident, said, "We hear there's a lot of drug problems in the complex, which is a shame because it looks so nice to an outsider. But it's scary. I don't know if I'm going to be able to sleep tonight."

Joane DeTiverny, 27, added: "People try to move away from the city but they are causing the trouble once they get here for the people who are trying to live a peaceful life."

A resident who identified himself only as "Alex" said, "The apartment manager has to control this situation better and try not to be so greedy, you know, and just put anybody in these apartments without doing the proper checks on them.

"I do have a little compassion for some people who fall into these situations because some of them don't have a place to go. But others don't know how lucky they are and need to know that Mom and Dad cannot be there for you all the time. You have to learn to make it on your own." *