Posted on 09/08/2006 6:39:24 PM PDT by buccaneer81
Fugitive Surrenders in NY State Manhunt By CAROLYN THOMPSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
CARROLL, N.Y. (AP) - A fugitive suspected of fatally shooting a New York state trooper and wounding two others while on the run for more than five months surrendered to police who had cornered him in a cornfield just over the Pennsylvania state line on Friday night.
Ralph "Bucky" Phillips walked out with his hands up, ending the state's largest manhunt for the 44-year-old career thief who broke out of a Buffalo-area jail in April, New York State Police Investigator Gary Colon said.
The arrest capped a frantic day of searching that started with troopers firing at Phillips as he dodged authorities in a wooded area.
For hours, police had methodically moved closer to Phillips. Just before nightfall, 25 SWAT officers and 12 dogs swept through a cornfield where he was thought to be hiding. He gave himself up around 8 p.m., police said.
Phillips, who had threatened "suicide by cop" and once promised to "splatter pig meat all over Chautauqua County," was on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list.
Since his escape, he has twisted and turned his way throughout southwestern New York and northwestern Pennsylvania, eluding a huge manhunt, stealing cars, burglarizing homes and camps and relying on a network of acquaintances to stay free, police said. He may have stolen 41 guns from a New York gun shop, authorities said.
A U.S. Marshals Service task force joined the investigation Wednesday and had about 30 investigators on the ground, commanding officer Lenny DePaul said.
He said the agencies were proceeding deliberately to prevent any accidents: "Everybody's in the woods and wearing different uniforms and everything else, and this guy is shooting back. It doesn't make it any easier for us."
Friday's search started shortly before 2 a.m. in Pennsylvania when a police officer tried to pull over a stolen car. After a short chase, the car crashed and the driver, identified by police as Phillips, fled into the woods.
A half-hour later, Phillips stole a second car and drove back into New York, where troopers located him and launched a second chase, authorities said.
Phillips jumped out of the moving car and ducked into woods, zigzagging back and forth between New York and Pennsylvania, authorities said. Police dogs tracked his scent for several hours until he was spotted by two troopers, Bennett said.
As troopers approached, Phillips wheeled around with a pistol in his hand but did not fire, police said. One of the troopers fired an undisclosed number of shots as Phillips disappeared into the thick woods.
Phillips became the subject of a huge search after allegedly shooting a state trooper near Elmira in June. The trooper survived.
Then, authorities said, he ambushed and shot two New York state troopers on Aug. 31 as they staked out the home of Phillips' former girlfriend. One trooper died on Sunday; the other was in critical condition.
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Associated Press writers Chris Carola in Albany, and Mike Cowden and Mark Scolforo in Pennsylvania contributed to this report.
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Apparantly you do not.
Oh, bullshit.
I suspect the courts will take care of the problem and you won't see this guy out of prison any time soon.
Still, New York probably ought to get itself a death penalty if it wishes to discourge this sort of thing in the future.
You should be very thankful Bucky didn't do more killing. It's pretty clear he can play the cops at will, so the threat was very real. Hotheads like you and some others on this thread would have been out there shooting the place up and killing and injuring more police.
What evidence do you have there was a "bad surgeon" in the picture?
You know he's going to have a lawyer who does everything he can to get this guy out of jail, so why are you getting mad at me.
Save your energy for when you really need it ~ like if he gets out of jail and comes knocking at your door.
You've fallen into the argument of the total ignoramous which is to not say nothin' bad 'bout the brother.
That's so tired and lame.
You also didn't follow the thread at all ~ just picking words out here and there like a DU escapee.
His lawyer is daft if he argues that Bucky didn't kill the cop, the surgeon did. That's not going to go well at all.
Bullshit. I've gone through your post listings. All they do is defend this scumbag.
As far as I'm concerned, you're as bad as one of the "Run, Bucky, Run" enablers.
Actually, we have no evidence of anything. We have allegations that he shot three police officers, one of whom died after the amputation of his leg. The police may have evidence to back up their accusations, but they haven't made that information public as yet.
All the allegations come from the same source - the police agency that he embarrassed by escaping from jail with a can opener. These allegations may be correct, but it is also possible that someone else burglarized the gunstore, shot the officers and committed many of the more recent burglaries. It wouldn't be the first time a bunch of otherwise unrelated people decided on their own to get back at Big Brother while they had cover.
Frankly, I too believe he is responsible for most, if not all, of the crimes he is accused of, but I also remember other, slightly similar situations in which the accused was railroaded by police agencies who were "dissed" by their prey.
I'll take a 'wait and see' approach here, thank you.
Wait and see. I am with you.
Smart man.
Last I heard there were 7 in custody for aiding him
NY State Police were deputized by the U.S. Marshalls to operate in Pennsylvania. The head of the NY State Police announced the capture/surrender. They took him to the same jail he escaped from with the can opener. I hope they don't give him the same cell and kitchen privileges ;-)
Are you for real? Was it the surgeon who put the bullet(s) into the cop?
Fortunately, it's not New York City. Upstate tends to be more conservative; there aren't as many bleeding-heart libs as you will find in NYC. I think that should he go on trial for the murder of the cop, the jury will do their duty.
Your sick.
Coming from you, that's a positive compliment.
This morning they are talking about having arrested 6 people who helped him. Guy has many more relatives, clan and tribe and apparantly confederation members obligated to do that ~ probably the reason they had over 1,000 cops in the area on the search.
You don't read well do you.
Nah, the whole world's the problem, not little old muawiyah.
What's brought the switch?
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