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Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Hero cop watches speech with First Lady

Like millions of other Americans, Philadelphia Highway Patrol Officer Richard Decoatsworth watched President Obama’s historic economic address earlier tonight.
Unlike millions of other Americans, however, Decoatsworth shared an armrest for the evening with First Lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden.
Decoatsworth was among 24 special guests — including governors, mayors and wounded war veterans — who sat in the First Lady’s box, perched above the congressional chambers.
The primo seat was a huge honor for the 23-year-old cop, who received an unexpected invitation on Monday from Vice President Joe Biden’s office to attend Obama’s speech.
Decoatsworth (pictured at Crime Commission award ceremony) earned the invitation for the staggering bravery he showed on Sept. 24, 2007, when he suffered a shotgun blast to the face during a traffic stop in Southwest Philadelphia, according to a White House press release.
Decoatsworth, who was just a rookie cop at the time, managed to chase after the suspect and relay a detailed description over his radio before he finally collapsed to the ground in a bloody heap.
The gunman, Antonio Coulter, was captured that day and later sentenced to 36 to 72 years in prison. Decoatsworth returned to the force several months later.
Highway Patrol Capt. Michael Cochrane said that Vice President Biden had apparently followed stories about Decoatsworth’s injury and recovery on the Internet. Still, no one expected the young officer to end up sitting next to the First Lady.
“It was short notice, that’s for sure,” said Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey. “It’s a great opportunity for him to be in the chambers of the House and actually see the address as it takes place.”
Decoatsworth, who could not be reached by phone, is expected to return home tomorrow.
Posted by David Gambacorta @ 10:22 PM  Permalink | Post a comment
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About The PhillyConfidential team

Dana DiFilippo has covered murder, mayhem and miscellany at the Daily News since 2000. She grew up in Delaware County and studied journalism and photography at Penn State University. E-mail tips to difilid@phillynews.com.

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Stephanie Farr has been reporting for the Daily News since 2007, covering everything from gay porn stars who entered the burglary business to moon trees, skinheads, murders and naked bike rides. She covers crime, both in the city and suburbs, and keeps clippings of bizarre Associated Press articles. Her favorite this year was the story about the drunk in Punxsutawney who gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a dead opossum. E-mail tips to farrs@phillynews.com.

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Phillip Lucas joined the Daily News crime team in 2011. He grew up on the mean streets of Seattle and studied journalism and psychology at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Before landing in the City of Brotherly Love, Phillip was a reporter for The News Journal in Wilmington, Del. Email tips to lucasp@phillynews.com.

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Morgan Zalot is the newest crime reporter at the Daily News, starting in 2011 after interning at the paper twice as a Temple University journalism student. In her past stints at the DN, she covered just about everything, from drunken Phillies fans to a barber shop in a high school to a grisly murder-suicide. She’s a born-and-raised Philly girl who grew up in the Northeast. E-mail tips to zalotm@philly.com.

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