The lethal streets of Phila. have claimed 5th cop in 13 months

SGT. Timothy Simpson, 46, is the fifth Philadelphia police officer killed in the line of duty in little more than a year.

Here are circumstances of the other recent police deaths:

* Sept. 23: Sgt. Patrick McDonald, 30, a Highway Patrolman, was shot at close range as he lay on the ground in North Philadelphia by a man who had been out of state prison less than a month and was being sought for assaulting four other police officers. The assailant, Daniel Giddings, was shot and killed by other police after wounding another officer.

* Sept. 5: Officer Isabel Nazario, 40, died when her patrol car was struck in Mantua by a stolen SUV driven by a 16-year-old boy who was later charged with third-degree murder.

* May 3: Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski, 39, of the 24th Police District, was shot to death by one of three bank robbers fleeing a Saturday-morning holdup at a Bank of America branch inside a ShopRite in Port Richmond. His alleged killer was shot to death by other police after he turned a Chinese-made assault rifle on them. Two other men also were arrested in the case.

* Oct. 31, 2007: Officer Chuck Cassidy, 54, was shot at point- blank range when he walked in on a robbery at a Dunkin' Donuts on Broad Street in West Oak Lane. The accused killer was caught a week later at a homeless shelter in Miami.

* May 8, 2006: Officer Gary Skerski was gunned down by a man who was robbing a bar in Northeast Philadelphia. Skerski was the first city cop killed in the line of duty since January 1996, when Officer Lauretha Vaird was shot while responding to a bank robbery. *