PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The man accused of injuring a Philadelphia police officer while he was serving a narcotics warrant in January pleaded no contest on Tuesday morning to charges including aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person, and other assault-related and drug offenses.
Libao Zheng, 26, didn’t argue with the accusations: that he shot at officers as they entered his North Philadelphia home, hitting one in his bulletproof vest. The bullet, prosecutors say, ricocheted and grazed the officer’s hand.
Prosecutors say after a two-month investigation, the Narcotics Field Unit served the warrant on Jan. 31, around 6 a.m., using a battering ram to enter the home on Kings Place, near 12th and Master streets, about a block away from Temple University. That’s when Zheng shot once at them.
Six others were also arrested at the time, on drug charges.
Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said at the time that narcotics officers had been wearing ballistic vests for only about seven months.
“You are always at a disadvantage when you go into those properties, because you do not know what’s on the other side,” Bethel said at the time. “The officer involved here has been on 33 years, and his team has been doing this work in our communities on a daily basis, and we know that risk. This is part of the work.”
At Zheng’s next hearing, scheduled for December, prosecutors say they will likely seek a six- to 12-year sentence.