Montco DA: Fleeing suspect killed officer, then committed suicide

Philly burbs.com ^ | Sep 16, 2012 | Margaret Gibbons

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Montco DA: Fleeing suspect killed officer, then committed suicide

By Margaret Gibbons Staff writer | Posted: Sunday, September 16, 2012 5:00 am

The man who ambushed and gunned down Plymouth police officer and Bucks County native Bradley Fox on Thursday evening died from two gunshots to the chest, including at least one that was self-inflicted, according to Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Verti Ferman.

She said Friday that these were the preliminary findings of an investigation into the death of Fox, who grew up in Warminster and graduated from William Tennent High School.

Ferman identified Fox’s killer as Andrew Charles Thomas, 44, of the 100 block of Grasmere Road, Lower Merion.

Autopsy results showed Fox, a U.S. Marine veteran who served two tours of duty in Iraq, died from a single gunshot wound to the head.

A K-9 officer, Fox lived in New Hanover with his young daughter and pregnant wife. He would have turned 35 on Friday.

His dog partner, Nick, suffered a graze bullet wound and is being treated for his injury

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Plymouth Township K-9 officer Bradley Fox, a William Tennent High School graduate, was shot and killed on Sept. 13, while responding to a hit-and-run accident. He is pictured here with his K-9 partner, Nick, who also was shot but survived.

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Slain cop, an ex-Marine, had survived IEDs, sniper fire

September 15, 2012|By Michael Matza, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Tony Paulk, 26, a Marine who served in Iraq with Bradley Fox, learned about the death of the slain Plymouth Township police officer and fellow Marine Thursday night.

“It’s crazy to know that he did two tours in Iraq, dodging roadside bombs, sniper fire, things like that,” Paulk said, “only to come back to the United States - which you would think is a peaceful area - and a coward takes his life. It’s ridiculous.”..

http://articles.philly.com/2012-09-15/news/33845031_1_sniper-fire-facebook-page-roadside-bombs

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Andrew Charles Thomas

Based on evidence found at the crime scene, authorities theorize that Thomas hid behind tall weeds on a hill above the train tracks. Authorities believe that, based on the results of the preliminary investigation, Thomas fired at least four shots at Fox and his K-9 partner from this elevated vantage point.

Authorities later determined that the SUV Thomas was driving had been stolen in Lower Providence. Details of the stolen vehicle incident were not immediately available. Thomas has long been a suspect in the 1999 disappearance of his then-girlfriend Maria Procopio of Philadelphia. Published reports and missing persons sites said Procopio left QVC where she worked in West Chester on Sept. 24, 1999, was spotted at the Newtown Shopping Center near routes 3 and 252 and never seen again. Some reports indicate Procopio, who moonlighted as a dominatrix, tipped off police that Thomas was committing fraud.

Thomas had multiple cases against him in Philadelphia in 1999 and 2000. He pleaded guilty in 2000 to charges of theft, simple assault and forgery in those cases, and received a sentence of 6 to 23 months in jail and a two-year probation sentence, according to court records. These offenses, some of which are felonies, would have barred him from legally possessing a gun, authorities said.

At the time of the shooting, Thomas was serving a two-year probation sentence he received on May 22, 2012, after pleading guilty to a 2005 forgery charge out of Upper Merion for using $140 worth of counterfeit Acme gift certificates, authorities said. Thomas failed to appear for his arraignment in 2005 on the charges from that incident but was taken into custody by Lower Merion police on May 21, 2012, on an arrest warrant that had been issued for Thomas at that time.