‘Bad blood’: Police charge driver in death of officer

A chance meeting late Sunday in East Mount Airy between an off-duty Philadelphia police officer and his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend ended with the officer dead and the other man in handcuffs, police said.

Kareem Alleyne, 35, was charged Monday with homicide by vehicle and manslaughter after police said he intentionally struck Officer Marc Brady's bicycle with his car.

Alleyne, of Mount Airy, had just left his girlfriend's house around 11:40 p.m. Sunday when he saw Brady riding on Musgrave Street near Meehan Avenue in the direction of the woman's home, said Philadelphia Capt. James Clark. Brady and the woman, who was not identified, have several children together, and police said Brady sometimes visited the children at her home. But he and Alleyne "had bad blood between them," Clark said.

When Alleyne saw Brady biking toward him, Clark said, he swerved his white Acura in Brady's direction and struck him head-on. Brady, 32, who lived a few blocks from the scene, was pronounced dead at Albert Einstein Medical Center shortly after midnight.

Sources familiar with the investigation said Alleyne told police he struck Brady by accident. He drove a short distance after the crash, Clark said, then stopped his car and waited for police to arrive.

Brady's death comes two days after police buried Highway Patrol Officer Brian Lorenzo, who was killed early July 8 when his motorcycle was hit by an alleged drunken driver on I-95.

Since Brady was not killed in the line of duty, Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey said, the funeral arrangements will be made by Brady's family. Family members could not be reached for comment Monday.

Brady joined the force in 2004. He was assigned to the North Philadelphia-based 22d District, but was placed on administrative duty more than a year ago, sources said. Ramsey declined to comment on the reasons for Brady's reassignment or on any ongoing Internal Affairs investigations involving Brady, but law enforcement sources said Brady had a history of being investigated for off-duty domestic incidents.

In November 2010 Brady was shot in a thigh, an incident that took place on the same block where he was fatally injured this week. At the time, police said Brady got into an argument with a man on the street, possibly over a woman. The other man retrieved a gun from his car and shot Brady, police said, then drove off in his Nissan Maxima.

Brady was out of work for some time but recovered from his injury. One police source said Brady did not cooperate fully with the investigation, and his shooter was never charged.

Police said there was no known link between Brady's killing and the 2010 shooting.

Neighbors spoke well of Brady on Monday, describing him as friendly and likable, and said his children played with others on the block. But some said it was obvious that he had personal problems.

His relationship with his girlfriend appeared to be on and off, they said, and neighbors sometimes heard fights from the house.

Last year, investigators from Internal Affairs bureau knocked on neighbors' doors asking about Brady's relationship with his girlfriend, said Lewis Lloyd, who lives across the street.

"Obviously they were interested in what was going on over there," he said.