A reader wrote us this morning about gunfire at 49th and Walton early this morning. Police confirmed that a man was shot while being robbed early at the corner of 49th Street and Walton. The victim was standing on the porch talking on the phone when two unknown men approached him, pointing a black handgun at him. They took the man’s wallet and then shot him in the left leg. They also took his phone but then threw it back at him. The incident happened around 1:45 a.m. Monday morning.
The victim was transported to Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. The attackers, African American males, fled in a silver two-door Ford. The victim was alone at the time of the incident.
June 4th, 2012 at 7:52 pm
holy crap. they threw the stolen phone back at him? they did this just for fun?
June 4th, 2012 at 10:49 pm
…
🙁
June 4th, 2012 at 11:27 pm
I don’t think they threw his wallet back Suzanne.
June 4th, 2012 at 11:30 pm
“They also took his phone but then threw it back at him. “
June 5th, 2012 at 12:06 am
I still consider the porch a safe place.
June 5th, 2012 at 12:49 am
Suzanne, I assume they threw the phone back because it wasn’t an iPhone/sexy and expensive enough.
June 5th, 2012 at 8:44 am
criminals don’t want your phone. they know it will be canceled and/or used to track them. they only take it so you can’t call 911 right away. they probably threw it back b/c they figured he wouldn’t be able to call, and/or now that they had shot him it was too risky to hold on to even for a few minutes (ie, cops pulling them over and finding it).
June 5th, 2012 at 9:08 am
This is extra scary because the guy wasn’t even walking around at that time, he was just talking on the phone on his own porch – and they felt the need to shoot him despite getting his valuables. Hopefully this will illicit some kind of response or constructive action…
June 5th, 2012 at 11:02 am
This is the second shooting on that corner in the past month. I would suspect that there was more to this as this is a well known and active drug corner.
June 5th, 2012 at 1:53 pm
this is bound to happen when monied people start pouring into a neighborhood where resources are scarce. some folks see this as just one of very few dwindling economic opportunities out there, one of the only forms of redistribution that still exists. talk about “criminals” and “drug corners” misses the point of the bigger story out there that no army of cops, politicians or liberal neighbors will ever try to solve.
June 5th, 2012 at 2:30 pm
multilectical :
you think that those who rob use it for foodstuffs and essential clothing, rent and utilities?? yeah?
what do you think theses brute participants spend this loot on??
please answer:
___________________________
June 5th, 2012 at 2:40 pm
multilectical – I live on this block and absolutely none of us are monied. Even those of use who moved here in the last 10 years but thanks for your ignorant knee jerk statement. Since I live here let me educate you readers as to why this happened. There are several houses on the 49th end of our block, specifically 4910, 4908 and 4906, that are filled to the gills with horrible ignorant people. I’m sure this incident was purely because of some family argument or issue between two people who know each other well, hell, are probably related and are so ignorant of what is right and wrong that they went and shot someone. You can argue about it or protest it but I have been here for a long time and KNOW these people well. The drug issues – almost exclusively because of these residents, the crime, shooting, stabbings all of it. These houses and the people that live in them are magnets for the destruction and degraded condition of my block. The rest of us, we’re not monied my friend but we’re good people. This is a block full of good people and it upsets me that these disgraceful, ignorant fools are the representation of Walton Ave. But money has nothing to do with it.
June 5th, 2012 at 2:42 pm
M – Right on.
June 5th, 2012 at 10:17 pm
Neighbor–super sorry you are in this situation! I wonder what their landlord has to say?
June 6th, 2012 at 9:51 am
According to the Fuzz late last night:
4900 Walton an hour ago. Robbery pt of silver gun. An iPhone 4 taken by a B/M, 5’10, thin, thin beard/mustache, 25y/o, grey hoody, blk pants
June 6th, 2012 at 10:52 am
I live on the 4800 block of Walton and everything neighbor#1 above says is true. The 3 houses mentioned have been a nuisance for the 10 years I have lived here. It makes me furious that the rest of us have to endure their constant screaming fights in the street (there was a really bad one this past weekend, making me wonder if the shooting is related). But the worst is the drug activity, which seems to have endured for years. I don’t understand what the cops are doing about the group selling drugs around 49th and Baltimore and Walton.
June 6th, 2012 at 2:48 pm
4906 Walton has a delinquent real estate tax balance (and a lien on most of it) in the amount of $681.05.
June 6th, 2012 at 3:26 pm
That’s well below what’s needed to force a sheriff sale. Keep an eye on it though. Have neighbors complained to the owners of 4906 and 4908, Neighborhood Restorations?
June 6th, 2012 at 4:25 pm
How do you find out of a property has delinquent taxes or liens? Is there a public record database of some kind?
June 6th, 2012 at 4:34 pm
multi = one big LOL
June 6th, 2012 at 4:47 pm
Can a moderator please delet my last comment?
The site to check property taxes is http://www.phila.gov/revenue/RealEstateTax/default.aspx?
June 6th, 2012 at 4:50 pm
@Keith: Deleted.
June 6th, 2012 at 4:53 pm
Keith, thank you! Not that I have any particular reason for wanting to know.
/whistles nonchalantly and walks away
June 11th, 2012 at 3:08 pm
I agree with @Neighbor in that the 4900 block of Walton Avenue is full of good people and nice houses, except for the above-mentioned, three houses at the very beginning of the block. From what I understand, if we as home owners join together, we can call on the U C counsel POC and ask that pressure be applied to the owners of those houses (I believe two of them are owned out-right and one is rented) and also ask that police presence (on foot and via Police car) be increased. My neighbor did that for one of the houses that was located in the middle of the block and those loud and trashy- section 8 tenants were labeled as “Public/Neighborhood nuisances” and forcibly evicted after 12 years, last Thanksgiving. One of the neighbors directly connected to that house, complained about all of the trash that was being thrown out of the back/side windows by the old tenant’s unruly sons and had to pay someone three times to go up on the shared-roof area and clean up all the trash—let alone all of the loud music. This is giving everyone who lives here and the block a bad name. If you took the time to observe these three houses, you would think that there is some mental illness issues because of the screaming fits that go on from time to time. Something must be done about that corner.
July 26th, 2014 at 10:00 am
This is 2 years old, but it was a pretty informative discussion. I’m wondering if anything has changed at those three houses on Walton? Is it same old same old, or have those properties changed tenants? Has life gotten any better for the other residents of the 4800 and 4900 block of Walton?