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Thursday, August 13, 2009

Patrol cop nabs suspected shooter

Officer Milord Celce hit the streets of North Philly on Wednesday, hunting for a thug who had recently shot at two fellow cops.
After banging on residents’ doors for a few hours, Celce found several people who said they saw the gunman fire at the two officers at 12th and Hazzard streets on Aug. 6.
Celce even convinced the witnesses to travel to Central Detectives, at 21st and Hamilton streets, where they identified the triggerman as career-criminal Donald Tillman, police officials said.
Happy with his contribution to the case, Celce returned to finish his shift in the 22nd District at about 11 p.m. — and promptly crossed paths with Tillman, said police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore.
Tillman, 24, bolted when he saw Celce, Vanore said. But the 27-year-old cop gave chase, and captured Tillman on 11th Street near Cumberland.
Tillman, who has 16 prior arrests, was charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, weapons violations and related offenses, Vanore said.
“It’s a good story,” Vanore said.
“You have a conscientious officer who’s out there pounding the pavement, trying to develop information, and he ends up catching the bad guy.”
According to court records, Tillman’s criminal history includes convictions on drug-possession charges in 2003 and 2007.
Tillman allegedly fired one shot when two cops approached him for acting suspiciously about 8:20 p.m. on Aug. 6.
One cop fired back at Tillman, who dropped a .40-caliber Glock semiautomatic at the scene and ran, Vanore said.
Celce, a 2-year veteran, works a regular foot beat in the 22nd District, headquartered at 17th Street and Montgomery Avenue.
“He has a good rapport with the residents, and that probably helped in this situation,” said Capt. Branville Bard, the district’s commander.
“Seconds after he made that arrest, I told him he did a fantastic job. You could tell he was proud of himself.”
Posted by David Gambacorta @ 11:00 PM  Permalink | 1 comment
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:08 AM, 08/14/2009
    16 prior arrests and he has guns? What do we need, stiffer sentences or more new gun laws that wont be enforced?
    — tr88


1 comments
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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