KYW Newsradio Team Coverage


Philadelphia police late Wednesday night arrested the third suspect in the death of a sergeant shot with an assault weapon in a confrontation with bank robbery suspects over the weekend. Eric Floyd was arraigned early Friday morning for his role in the bank robbery that led to the death of Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski (see related stories).  

KYW's Tony Hanson reports that sources say 33-year-old Floyd has confessed, admitting he was involved in the robbery but claimed he didn't know killer, Howard Cain, was going to fire on the police sergeant. 
  
Once Floyd was in custody, restrained by Sgt. Liczbinski's handcuffs, commissioner Charles Ramsey called the slain officer's wife, Michelle:

"You could just hear the relief in Mrs. Liczbinski's voice as she told others who were in the house at the time. And there was a cheer that you could hear in the background as that happened. It doesn't bring him back, but it is a measure of closure as we go into two very difficult days." 

And we now know more about the tip call that led to the arrest.   

Highly respected former FBI agent Jesse Coleman says he was watching basketball on TV and dozing off when the phone rang late Wednesday evening:
 
"I pick it up and it's an old source of mine, somebody who has helped me in investigations over a ten year period. And I maintain contact with him. And he told me, 'I know where the cop killer is right now.' "

Coleman linked the informant to an investigating agent, and says that 20 minutes later the informant was jumping up and down with news that Eric Floyd was in custody -- thanks in large part to the huge reward:

"That was the second thing out of his mouth -- 'Am I gonna get the reward?'  And that’s what I would expect. The reward helped get that guy captured."
 
Coleman says he has no interest in the reward himself; his reward is the arrest, and what it means to Liczbinski’s family and fellow investigators who worked so hard on the case.

Authorities say the informant was not involved in any of the suspect's alleged criminal activity.

 
KYW's Matt Leon and Peter Jaroff report that officials say Floyd was taken into custody near South 55th Street and Windsor Avenue in the city's southwest by cops acting on a tip.

Floyd's girlfriend was also taken into custody. She is being charged with hindering apprehension, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy. The district attorney was asking that she be held without bail.

Philadelphia police commissioner Charles Ramsey says Liczbinski's memory was honored during the arrest of Floyd:

"Twenty-fourth District (officers) transported him in a wagon and Sergeant Liczbinski's handcuffs were on the suspect.  I think that's something that is very important. I think it's something that brings a lot of comfort to the officers, and it's a way of just paying tribute to the slain officer."

The handcuffs have since been returned to Liczbinski's family. 

The search for Floyd (right) had been on since late Saturday morning, when Liczbinski was gunned down as he chased suspects in the robbery of a Bank of America branch in a Shoprite supermarket in Port Richmond.

One of those suspects, identified as Howard Cain, was killed by police a short time later. Another suspect, Levon Warner, is in custody.

A reward of at least $150,000 had been posted for Floyd's arrest.

Word of the arrest came hours after police released a surveillance tape showing the three suspects arriving at the bank, which is inside the supermarket at Castor and Aramingo Avenues.


KYW's Mark Abrams reports from Southwest Philadelphia that neighbors were surprised to learn a fugitive had been living in their midst, even if for a brief time.

While many say they had a hard time believing that Floyd could have hunkered down undetected there in the vacant home in the 5400 block of Windsor Avenue, one woman who identified herself as Miss Jones lives just a few doors away:

"It doesn’t surprise me because a lot of things go on around that block, a lot of things. But let me tell you something, those people know everybody on that block, they know everybody on that block who comes in and out and everything. But it’s a shame it took them that long to say something. It really is."

Miss Jones says she’s glad that Floyd is off the street and hopes it will help to begin bringing some closure for the sergeant’s family and fellow officers.
 
John, another neighbor who has lived in the area for more than 10 years, stood on 54th Street looking down Windsor Avenue where a police crime scene unit was parked and officers were busy inside the vacant home:

"I’m surprised. I thought he was on the train and jumped off the train going towards New Jersey."

Is he happy that police got their suspect?

"Yes, I am. I am because he could have invaded somebody’s house around here."

Police believe that Floyd had been holed up in the vacant, dilapidated house in Southwest Philadelphia for at least the last couple of days. 
 
(Top photo by KYW's Mark Abrams. Photo #2 by Chopper 3, KYW-TV. Photo #3 from Phila. PD)