Perhaps only in South Philly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Late one evening last month, a delivery driver for a South Philly pizza shop was delivering a pizza on Wharton Street.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The driver stepped out of his car, pizza box in hand, and he looked for the address of the home that called for the pizza. The driver saw a woman and a man, and he asked them if they knew where the particular address was located.<\/p>\n
The woman said the pizza was hers and took the box from the delivery man. She turned and walked away without paying for the pizza. Her male companion brandished a gun and told the delivery driver to \u201cGive up the food.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The couple then began to run down Wharton Street, the pizza box in the woman\u2019s hand. The couple didn\u2019t attempt to rob the delivery driver of his money, watch or phone. They were apparently satisfied with simply stealing the pizza. They must have been hungry.<\/p>\n
Over the years that I\u2019ve covered the crime beat in Philadelphia, I\u2019ve gone out on many a ride along all over the city with Philadelphia police officers, but it seems that the most interesting and amusing occurrences all occurred in South Philadelphia where I grew up and continue to live.<\/p>\n
I recall some years ago while riding with a 3rd District patrol officer, we came upon a man who had chased away a would-be car break-in thief. From his house front window, the potential victim saw the young thief attempting to break into his car. The man ran out of his house with a baseball bat, and the thief took off so fast, he ran right out of his untied sneakers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The police officer took down the information for his report from the victim and the victim picked up the discarded sneakers and brought them into his house.\u00a0 Afterwards the cop had a good laugh as we sat in his patrol car.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The cop told me that the sneakers the thief had left behind on the sidewalk were expensive \u2014 much more valuable than anything he could have stolen from the parked car.<\/p>\n
I also recall a Philly cop telling me about his stern sergeant during an earlier Christmas season. The cop was walking a beat on South Street on a very cold and windy Christmas Eve. His sergeant ordered the cop to stay visible on the street and not hang out\u00a0in a store, sucking up heat, coffee and merriment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Of course, the cop quickly escaped the bitter wind and cold and stepped into a shoe store for hot chocolate and conversation with the store owner and customers.<\/p>\n
When the cop looked out through the store window and saw his sergeant\u2019s car rolling down South Street, he stepped out and stood in front of the store, shivering.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHave you been hanging out in the store?\u201d his sergeant asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
No, the cop replied. \u201cAlthough it is really cold out here, Sarge.\u201d<\/p>\n
His sergeant then placed his bare hand on the cop\u2019s badge and found the metal to be nearly as warm as the hot chocolate in the beat cop\u2019s stomach.<\/p>\n
The police officer later told me and every cop he knew, \u201cDo you believe it? He chewed me out on Christmas Eve!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
On another Christmas Eve some years ago, another cop told me about a young, overeager officer who busted Santa.<\/p>\n
A driver, dressed as Santa Claus in a red suit, fake belly and a false white beard performed what is known locally as \u201cthe South Philly Roll,\u201d which is a deliberate failure to fully stop at a stop sign or traffic light.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The serious-minded officer pulled over the man dressed as Santa. The driver, who admittedly had a few shots of whisky, rolled down his window and yelled out \u201cHo, Ho. Ho, Merry Christmas!\u201d to the officer.<\/p>\n
The officer was neither merry nor amused. He made the driver step out of the car.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A crowd gathered on the street and watched the officer interacting with Santa. The crowd was aghast. One bystander full of holiday spirit \u2013 both faith-based and liquid no doubt \u2013 called out to the officer, \u201cHey Officer Grinch! Leave Santa alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Had this event happened today, the encounter would have been recorded on a dozen phones, and the video would have gone viral, as they say, with millions of people viewing it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The young officer\u2019s sergeant happened to drive by, and he parked and got out of his patrol car. The sergeant took over from the young officer and let Santa off with a warning, and a hearty wish for a Merry Christmas.<\/p>\n