Jermaine Goodman, who was wanted for shooting an unarmed Pathmark security guard on March 22, was captured last night in South Philadelphia by the FBI Violent Crimes Task Force.  Tips led investigators to a rowhouse on Christian Street near 16^th, where they found Goodman – who turned 30 yesterday – hiding on the third floor, said Lt. John Walker of Southwest Detectives. After a brief struggle, he was arrested and charged with attempted murder and related offenses. Walker said surveillance footage had shown Goodman, who also goes by the name Zahid Abdul-Muqeet, stealing cologne and dental floss from a Wynnefield Heights Pathmark last Sunday. He then shot the 44-year-old guard twice during a confrontation, Walker said. The guard is now recovering at home.

Quick excerpt on a story I'm sure you've all heard about by now:

ALHINDE WEEMS, armed with his gun and Philadelphia police badge, allegedly was pumped and ready to go.
After weeks of covert meetings and careful planning, Weems met yesterday morning at a local hotel with two of his trusted associates, eager to finally put his scheme in motion. The 5 1/2-year police veteran was ready to rob — and possibly shoot — a narcotics supplier, law-enforcement officials said.
And then everything fell apart. FBI agents swarmed in and arrested Weems, 33, the main target of a three-month corruption investigation run by the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The skinny cop had been living a life of a character in an urban crime film. Authorities said Weems was a drug dealer who became a cop but continued to peddle drugs on the side.
News of Weems’ criminal dealings sent shockwaves through the Police Department. Most of the department’s top brass weren’t even aware of the investigation until yesterday, and many wondered how a man accused of being so morally bankrupt could serve among them.“This kind of thing makes you sick,” said Deputy Commissioner Richard Ross. “This man tarnished the reputation of our department and everyone else who is out there laying their lives on the line and protecting people.”
Weems, a married father of four who spent his career in the 18th District in West Philadelphia, got away with his double life for years, according to authorities.
His luck ran out in December, when a confidential informant working for the ATF Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives claimed he knew a Philly cop who was involved in drug trafficking, said Linda D. Hoffa, chief of the criminal division for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
 

You can pick up the rest of the story in Saturday's Daily News, of course. One thing I can say for sure: this won't be the last you hear about Weems.

Police found drugs, chewed up pit bulls and training equipment for a dog-fighting operation in a Germantown barbershop last night.

Narcotics Capt. Debra Frazier said officers raided the Lil Man Barbershop, on Germantown Avenue near Wister Street, and confiscated one pound of marijuana and one gram of crack.

The cops found a homemade treadmill, weights and two pit bulls - one of whom was scarred with bite marks - in the basement of the shop, Frazier said. Officers with the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals were called to the scene and took both dogs.

"It appeared to be a training operation," Frazier said. The Department of Licenses and Inspections posted a cease operations order in the shop.

Jermaine Russell, 20, Leslie Norris, 40, and Richard Vaughn, 20, were arrested at the scene, Frazier said. Both Vaughn and Norris worked at Lil Man

The Commuter Bandit, in happier times.

If you're going to get caught after a busy three-month bank robbery spree, you might as well go down in style.

Take, for instance, Anthony Boyd, an alleged lanky stickup artist we first told you about on Wednesday. FBI officials say Boyd, 39, pulled off 17 bank heists in New York and Philadelphia since Jan. 7. He struck in Philadelphia twice, both times at Citizens Bank branches: Feb. 26, at 17th and JFK Boulevard, and March 14, at 20th and Market streets.

Boyd, a New York resident dubbed the "Commuter Bandit" by the FBI, was finally captured Wednesday night at the Borgata Hotel, Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, N.J. He was spotted walking out of a Borgata elevator by FBI agents and New Jersey State Police officers. Each of the 17 bank robbery charges he faces could bring a 20-year maximum sentence, the FBI said.

Final word comes from Special Agent in Charge Weysan Dun: "I guess you could say Mr. Boyd rolled the dice and lost. The odds are always in favor of the house, and in this case, the house is the justice system."

Update: Police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore says a suspect has now been charged in this horrific sexual assault case. The offender is Walter Vicks, 19. Vanore says cops were called to 56th Street for a "report of a person screaming." Vicks fled the property when police arrived, but was captured a few blocks later.

Vick allegedly forced the 10-year-old boy off his bike and assaulted him inside the rowhouse at knifepoint. The knife was found at the scene, in addition to other evidence, which included some of the boy's clothing, the Daily News learned earlier tonight.  

A 10-year-old boy claimed he was pulled off his bike in Southwest Philly earlier today, dragged into a house and sexually assaulted, police say.

The attack happened shortly before 1:40 p.m. on 56th Street near Springfield Avenue. Police arrived at the scene a short while later and took a 19-year-old man into custody, said Lt. Frank Vanore, a police spokesman. The young man has not yet been charged with any offenses.The boy was taken to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for treatment, but his condition is unknown.

An argument got unexpectedly out of hand earlier today at the Dirty Hands Cycle repair shop in West Philadelphia.
Police sources said Dumar Combs, 18, and Waddell Wagstaff, 25, arrived together at the motorcycle and ATV repair shop at 61st and Lancaster Avenue at about 4:25 p.m.
A conversation between the two men and the wheelchair-bound owner of Dirty Hands Cycle got heated, and Combs and Wagstaff both pulled out weapons and opened fire, the sources said.
Combs was wounded once in the groin. Neither the shop owner, who was not identified by police, nor Wagstaff were wounded.
Sources said Combs limped to his car and sped off, only to crash about two blocks later. Police said he fled his vehicle, but left behind his identification.
Combs managed to get another ride to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was treated and listed in stable condition last night.
An arrest warrant was expected to be issued for Wagstaff on charges that include aggravated assault and weapons violations, sources said. His whereabouts were unknown.

A 30-year-old man was fatally shot in Nicetown earlier tonight. Darryl Marks was shot at least four times by two men during an apparent attempted robbery at 19th and Cayuga streets at about 8 p.m., said Homicide Sgt. Bob Wilkins.

Marks, of Algard Street near Benner in Northeast Philadelphia, died 20 minutes later. Wilkins said there was little information about the two suspects. Tipsters can call the Homicide Unit at 215-686-3334 or -3335.

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Here's an excerpt of a story we have going in Wednesday's paper:

He’s not John Dillinger — not by a long shot — but a lanky stickup man has the FBI on his tail after he pulled off a three-month bank-robbery spree.
The crook, a thin, 6-foot-4 black man in his 30s who covers the lower half of his face with a cloth, has robbed two banks in Philadelphia and 13 in New York City since Jan. 7, said Special Agent J.J. Klaver, an FBI spokesman. The thief struck again yesterday in New York.
“This is a lot for a serial robber in a short amount of time,” Klaver said. “He’s hitting so many banks so quickly, and he’s armed."

The lanky bandit’s busy schedule reflects a larger trend in Philadelphia, where the number of bank robberies is surging ahead of previous years’ totals.
Since Jan. 1, 30 bank robberies have occurred in the city, compared to 27 at this point a year ago, and 19 at this time in 2007, said Special Agent Bastian Freund, a bank-robbery coordinator.

Armed bank robberies have jumped 50 percent, with six so far in the city compared to three at this point last year, the FBI said.
Klaver said that investigators are concerned by the thieves who brandish weapons — especially the lanky crook who’s been having a field day with banks in New York.
Locally, he held up a Citizens Bank at 17th Street and JFK Boulevard on Feb. 26, and another Citizens Bank at 20th and Market on March 14, Klaver said. Citizens Bank has issued a $10,000 reward for tips that lead to the robber’s capture and conviction.
“We want to catch him before something worse than an armed robbery happens,” Klaver said.
The FBI released images of the bandit yesterday and are hoping that tipsters will call in with information. Freund said that tips from Daily News readers helped capture three of four bank robbers featured in a Jan. 30 issue of the People Paper.
 

A female Philadelphia police officer suffered fractures to her leg and pelvis when her crusier was struck in Center City last night. Police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore said the 48-year-old officer was riding north on 7th Street, on her way to back up another cop, when a motorist traveling east on Market slammed into the cop car.

Rescuers had to use the Jaws of Life to pry the officer out of the crumpled car. Vanore said the officer was "awake and complaining of pain" when she was admitted to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. She was listed in stable condition late last night.

The driver of the other car was unharmed. No charges were filed.