Police get assist from resident

Highway Patrol Officers Joe Moore and Bruce Cleaver were riding through North Philadelphia on Thursday when a red Chevy Impala caught their eye. They flipped their domelights on when the driver failed to use his turn signal and he turned onto North 22nd Street from Berks.

The Chevy came to a stop. The driver did not. Orlander Warren, 28, took off running, and Moore and Cleaver jumped out of their patrol car and gave chase, said Highway Patrol Capt. Michael Cochrane.

It was, in a sense, deja vu all over again. Highway Patrol Officer Pat McDonald ran through the very same motions on Sept. 23, when he pulled a car over near 17th and Dauphin and chased after a passenger who jumped out of the car and ran. Of course, McDonald lost his life in the chase when the fleeing man, Daniel Giddings, turned and fatally shot the 30-year-old cop.

This time, the bad guy in question was unarmed. Warren ran into a building on 22nd Street and was eventually subdued and arrested by Moore and Clever, Cochrane said. The cops found $36,000 worth of marijuana in Warren's car. He was charged with drug possession charges and resisting arrest.

But something else happened when the police chased and scuffled with Warren: a neighbor reached out. Cochrane said an unidentified resident called 9-1-1 and asked that backup be sent for the officers, who couldn't get to their radios during the incident. "The officers were really happy about that part of it," Cochrane. "It made them feel good to know someone was watching out for them and tried to help."