Category Archives: Crime

Brick assault defendant pleads guilty

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UPDATE: Estes’ sentencing was rescheduled to Jan. 14, according to court documents.

Zaria Estes, the 15-year-old girl responsible for attacking a Temple student with a brick in March, pled guilty to aggravated assault, conspiracy and possession of an instrument of crime on Tuesday morning, as was first reported by the Philadelphia Daily News.

The state is dropping three additional charges: making terroristic threats, simple assault, and reckless endangerment of another person.

According to Estes’ court docket, bail was set at $100,000 on April 18. She faces a maximum sentence of 10 to 20 years in prison for the lead charge of aggravated assault.

Estes was part of a group of girls who attacked four Temple students during a half-hour span on March 21. The brick incident happened in the 1700 block of Norris Street, and the victim needed oral surgery and suffered a mild concussion.

Two other girls involved were initially charged as adults, but the adult charges were later dropped after court proceedings.

Estes will be sentenced on Dec. 17.  The information for the case was initially filed on April 17.

Temple Fest incident settled with numerous penalties

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Abdel Aziz Jalil, the student who was accused of striking senior management information systems major and Jewish student Daniel Vessal at Temple Fest in August, was admitted into a six month Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program, among other penalties today.

The Commonwealth-run ARD program is intended to help first offenders who are charged with minor crimes. Aziz Jalil was also given 10 hours of community service, included in anger management counseling and required to pay numerous fees.

Aziz Jalil was charged with simple assault and recklessly endangering another person. Despite accusations of the incident being driven by anti-Semitic views, Aziz Jalil was not charged with a hate crime.

The Commonwealth proposed the penalties today in a Municipal Court status hearing, which Aziz Jalil attended with his defense attorney, Raymond C. Geary. The judge overseeing the hearing, Nazario Jimenez Jr., accepted the agreement between the parties and urged Aziz Jalil to complete the program and “stay out of trouble.”

Geary said that Aziz Jalil has already given Vessal a formal letter of apology and the two will shake hands at Geary’s office at a later date.

Aziz Jalil is still listed as a student in the university’s directory.

If Aziz Jalil completes all of the required programs, the Commonwealth will expunge the incident from his record as part of the agreement.

Marcus McCarthy can be reached at marcus.mccarthy@temple.edu or on Twitter @marcusmccarthy6.

Anderson Hall robber sentenced to 17-35 years

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The man who beat and robbed an Intellectual Heritage professor in his Anderson Hall office last October will face 17 to 35 years in prison, according to court documents.

Darryl Moon, 46 of Philadelphia, pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated assault and robbery in a June hearing. He received his sentence yesterday, and today the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County released Moon’s criminal docket.

Moon entered Anderson on Oct. 29, 2013 and went up to the Intellectual Heritage offices on the second floor. He punched the victim in the face, demanding his wallet before putting a knife to the professor’s throat, according to a post on the Philadelphia Police website. After obtaining the wallet, Moon hit the victim again.

The 81-year-old professor suffered lacerations to his face and head in addition to swelling and bleeding in his brain. He is not scheduled to teach classes this semester.

A security camera caught Moon leaving Anderson through the second floor mezzanine doors, which were sealed off this summer to improve security.

Philadelphia police arrested Moon on Oct. 31.

Student charged after Welcome Week incident

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The student accused of assaulting a Jewish student and using anti-Semitic slurs on Aug. 20 during Welcome Week was recently charged, as confirmed by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office.

The defendant, Abdel Aziz Jalil, is being charged with simple assault and recklessly endangering another person, said Tasha Jamerson, a spokesperson for the DA’s office.

On Aug. 20, senior managing and information systems major Daniel Vessal alleged that Jalil punched him after approaching the Students for Justice in Palestine table at Temple Fest to discuss the ongoing conflict between Israel and Gaza.

Five days after the incident, President Theobald announced a university investigation of the events that transpired. The investigation’s findings were then passed on to the DA, Executive Director of Campus Safety Services Charlie Leone said on Sept. 2.

Marcus McCarthy can be reached at marcus.mccarthy@temple.edu. 

Shooting close to campus tests new CSS communications policy

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By Sarai Flores

The scene of the shooting, 2036 N. Carlisle St.,which left two men in the hospital.

The scene of the shooting, 2036 N. Carlisle St.,which left two men in the hospital. | SARAI FLORES TTN

Philadelphia police responded to a shooting outside an apartment building less than a block off Main Campus Tuesday evening, which left two non-Temple-affiliated males in the hospital.

A 22-year-old male was found lying in the foyer of an apartment at 2036 N. Carlisle St. with a gunshot wound to his chest and was taken to Temple University Hospital in critical condition. Temple police said the man was visiting from New York.

A police spokesperson said that while officers were at the scene, they noticed a male driving away in a van. After briefly pursuing the vehicle, police reported that it crashed into a wall on North College Ave., near Girard College. The 19-year-old male driver was transported to Hahnemann University Hospital with injuries related to the incident.

The 19-year-old male’s involvement in the shooting is still being investigated and he had not been formally charged as of Wednesday night.

According to police, the 22-year-old male was in critical condition as of Wednesday and had yet to be questioned. No charges have been made to anyone involved in the shooting and police said they believe there were several males involved in the shooting.

Although the incident occurred around 9:38 p.m., Temple students were issued a TU Alert at 11 p.m. that night.

“The problem was we had a problem with our computer dispatching system,” said Charlie Leone, executive director of campus safety services.“It went down and so we didn’t get the information right away but Philly [police] was there very fast.”

The shooting came four months after a March 21 incident just off Main Campus where a female student was attacked and hit in the face with a brick by a group of teenage girls. Many students criticized the university for not immediately notifying them of the incident.

University officials initially said the incident wasn’t reported because it was off-campus, therefore not in their jurisdiction, and they weren’t notified about it by Philadelphia police until hours after. Leone said Tuesday’s incident showed a reformed communication policy since the attacks in March.

“Talking with the student population… they wanted more information. So we saw something like this and we wanted to make sure we had put the information out so they know what happened,” Leone said. “We’re trying to do better and we’re trying to improve.”

However, Inella Ray, a senior economics major, believes Temple police still have room to improve with communicating.

“I guess I come from a biased point of view because I grew up in the inner city, but I don’t rely on Temple police for safety,” Ray said. “I don’t think Temple police do a good enough of a job. We end up finding out about stuff very late. They need to do a better job communicating.”

Temple police have stated that they are continuing to heavily patrol the area.

Sarai Flores can be reached at sarai.abisag.flores@temple.edu or on Twitter @saraiaflores.

Temple student assaulted off Main Campus, Police say

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By Marcus McCarthy

Police released a surveillance video of five men they said assaulted a Temple student just off Main Campus on the 1800 block of Berks Street around 11:50 p.m. on May 5.

In the video, the Philadelphia police said that a 20-year-old male who was a student at the university was walking through an alley when he was approached from behind by five unknown males. The student was struck on the back of the head by two of the unknown men then beat up once on the ground, the police said. The men proceeded to take the student’s cellphone.

The student was taken to Temple University Hospital where he was treated for a dislocated right shoulder, scrapes and a bloody nose.

The footage in the video, taken by a security camera on the corner of Berks and 18th streets, shows five men walking south on 18th Street.

Anyone with information are asked to call the Philadelphia police at 215-686-8477.

Marcus McCarthy can be reached at marcus.mccarthy@temple.edu or on Twitter @marcusmccarthy6.

Student arrested for exposure in Paley

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A student was arrested and will be charged with indecent exposure following an incident on the second floor of Paley Library Thursday night, Temple police said.

Acting Executive Director of Campus Safety Services Charlie Leone said police were informed of the incident by a female student around 11:40 p.m. The woman told officers that a man sat down next to her, exposed himself and began touching himself, Leone said.

Police took the man, who they identified as a student, out of the library and turned him over to Philadelphia police Special Victims Unit, where he awaits charges, Leone said.

The student’s name has not been released at this time.

Police suspect identified in shooting of 11-year-old boy

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Philadelphia police have identified who they said was involved with the shooting of an 11-year-old boy on the corner of Gratz and Oxford streets. Police wrote in a press release that Marcelus Temple, a 25-year-old male whose home address is unknown, is a suspect in the incident.

On April 6 around 4 p.m., the 11-year-old male was playing basketball with friends when they were hit as a bystander in a drive-by shooting, according to the police press release. The 11-year-old was found by police bleeding from a single shot to the side and ducking in a doorway. Police said they found 15 bullets on the scene.

The 11-year-old was taken to Temple University Hospital for surgery and was in critical condition. The boy was later stabilized and transported to Saint Christopher’s Hospital for Children for additional treatment.

Police are asking for anyone with information of the incident to call the Central Detectives Unit.

Marcus McCarthy can be reached at marcus.mccarthy@temple.edu or on Twitter @marcusmccarthy6.

Man arrested after students report harassment on Broad

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A man believed to have mental health issues was arrested near Broad Street after three students reported harassment  on Wednesday evening, April 2, police said.

Michael, Campbell, 26 of the 3000 block of Crosby Street was charged with two counts of harassment after bike cops pursued him to the area in front of the Cecil B. Moore subway station near Morgan Hall, Acting Executive Director of Campus Safety Services Charlie Leone said.

Leone said the first victim, a female student, reported a man walking down Broad Street from Norris Street around 5:30 p.m., when he announced that he was going to punch her in  the face. The student was able to duck and ran away towards Norris, Leone said.

Two more female student reported being targeted in the area, Leone said. One told police she was bumped by the suspect and fell to the ground, another was spit on. No serious injuries were reported.

Leone said another male student saw the incidents and began chasing the suspect near Montgomery Avenue down Broad Street before the suspect was apprehended by police and taken to Temple University Hospital for examination due to a perceived mental health condition.

The suspect remained in the hospital as of Friday morning, Leone said.

John Moritz can be reached at john.moritz@temple.edu or on Twitter @JCMoritzTU. 

Teens charged as adults for assaults

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Three of five teenagers arrested yesterday have been charged as adults in connection to three assaults that occurred near Main Campus last Friday, the district attorney’s office announced Wednesday.

Najee Bilaal, 16,  Zaria Estes, 15, and Kanesha Gainey, 15, have been charged with aggravated assault, conspiracy, possession of an instrument of a crime, terroristic threats, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person.

Gainey’s bail was set for $75,000 while both Bilaal and Estes had bail set at $100,000 each.

The DA’s office didn’t say who is believed to have used a brick to attack a 19-year-old student who broke her jaw and required emergency oral surgery.

According to court records, Bilaal has been arrested six times since December 2011, including on charges of retail theft and criminal trespassing. Three of the arrests were made by SEPTA police for theft of services.

Neither Estes nor Gainey have prior arrests listed in the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania.

Bilaal’s zip code is listed in West Philadelphia near University City, according to court records. Gainey had a listed zip code from West Philadelphia and Estes had a Northwest Philadelphia zip code. Police yesterday said the teens left Temple after the attacks on a SEPTA bus heading south on 17th Street.

The next court date for the teens is set for April 10.

John Moritz can be reached at john.moritz@temple.edu or on Twitter @JCMoritzTU.