PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Bail is set at $12.5 million for the man accused of critically injuring a police officer during a traffic stop on Saturday evening in Kensington, according to the district attorney.
Ramon Rodriguez Vazquez, 36, will be charged with the attempted murder of the officer.
According to sources, the 6 1/2-year Philadelphia Police Department veteran is in extremely critical condition. While they are asking for prayers for the officer and his family, they will not be releasing the officer’s name.
According to Frank Vanore, deputy commissioner of investigations, video of the incident allowed police officials, on Monday, to offer a detailed timeline of the events on Saturday that led to the shooting and to the suspect’s arrest.
At 7:18 p.m., two 25th District police officers conducted a vehicle investigation in the 3500 block of F Street. The officers were intending to call for a tow truck to confiscate the vehicle, a dark blue 2003 Toyota Echo, because the driver had no license and no registration.
The officers called for a tow truck, which was there in minutes.
At the same time, the suspect made at least one phone call, telling someone that he’s stopped by police and he's about to lose the car. Earlier reports incorrectly had three additional individuals in the car with the driver, but two women and a man actually arrived at the scene in a separate car, parked and walked to where the stop was occurring.
The incident lasted about 30 minutes.
Police say, per protocol, the pair of officers took inventory of the items in the car, allowing the driver to get some of his things. That’s when they saw a gun holster on the floor. When the officers questioned Rodriquez-Vazquez about it, he dropped what he was carrying and fled on foot.
“They immediately go in pursuit and attempt to stop him. While he is in the middle of the street, without any provocation, he turns and fires three shots to the officers,” Vanore said.
One officer was hit in the neck, while his partner returned fire.
Police say the tow truck driver was integral in getting the officer to the hospital.
The suspect continued on foot until G and Tioga streets, where he tried to get into a maroon-colored minivan.
“He pulls the door. He opens the door, and it looks like he is attempting to take that vehicle over. The operator took off and he never got into that vehicle,” Vanore said.
Vanore says police are now trying to locate the driver of that minivan to ask what happened.
The suspect then ran around the block and approached a man sitting on the front stoop of a home. Police say the suspect pulled a gun on the man and forced his way into the home. The man was able to get out unharmed — but police say they set up a barricade, and eventually took Rodriquez-Vazquez into custody.
Rodriquez-Vazquez is being charged with two counts of attempted murder of a police officer, two counts of aggravated assault of a police officer, firearms violations, evading arrest, and a list of other offenses, including several relating to his forced entry into the home where he was arrested, including burglary and kidnapping.