- Merlino says family punished for others' mob ties
- Camden County judge seriously hurt in bike accident
- Racism underlies rage at Obama presidency
- Dogs try out for role in "Oliver!"
- 5 area schools win U.S. Blue Ribbon honors
- New Pa. public-records law: lots of requests ... & lawsuits
- Ronnie Polaneczky: Pen to paper: Will Madoff make him rich?
- Drawn by Obama's proximity, activists spar on health care, abortion & other issues
- Ailing woman, 78, spared eviction after PHA's reasoning collapses
- ACORN shows 'pimp' and 'pro' the door here
- Obama in Philly, fundraising for Sen. Arlen Specter
- Blockbuster may shutter 960 stores
- SnapGlow.TV: Modern Gems Galore!
RELATED STORIES
Cops: 'Incredibly disturbing' teen confessed to many crimes
In an emotional interview with police detectives on Tuesday, 17-year-old Isaiah Baldwin allegedly confessed to a litany of crimes, including separate shootings that wounded four people.
Police sources said that Baldwin cried when he watched surveillance footage that showed him robbing and shooting a West Philadelphia bodega employee on May 12.
The teen - who was found by police hiding out in a Bristol Township, Bucks County, apartment on Friday - told investigators that he was high on drugs when he wounded Eliezer Urena, 35, inside the Venture Papi Grocery store, at 58th Street and Washington Avenue, the sources said.
Urena, a married father of five, was left in a medically induced coma after the shooting, police said.
Sources said that Baldwin, whose criminal career reportedly began when he was 14, admitted to being behind a host of other crimes:
* On April 10, Baldwin shot three men during a a drug-related robbery at an apartment in Parkesburg, Chester County, police said. The victims, whose names weren't released, all survived. Parkesburg police are expected to file charges against him in the near future.
* On Nov. 12, Baldwin robbed three people at gunpoint at 60th Street and Cobbs Creek Parkway, said Lt. John Walker, of Southwest Detectives.
* Four days after the Cobbs Creek robbery, police issued another arrest warrant for Baldwin after they found guns and drugs inside his home on 58th Street near Catharine, Walker said.
Baldwin has been charged with an array of offenses for the three crimes, including attempted murder, robbery, aggravated assault and weapons violations.
Walker said that Baldwin also faces charges in Bucks County because a handgun and drugs were found in the apartment where police arrested him on Friday.
Baldwin's criminal career may have begun at age 14, when he was accused of shooting a 13-year-old over $100 at 60th and Christian streets, according to police documents obtained by the Daily News.
Two years later, he was locked up for allegedly shooting a 17-year-old boy at 58th and Catharine over an unknown dispute.
Walker said that investigators found Baldwin's penchant for violence "incredibly disturbing."
"We're relieved that he's now off the streets, before he can harm anyone else in the community," he added. *
