Police charged two men in connection with an alleged marijuana growing operation on S. 48th Street yesterday.

James Lippert, 49, and David Eisenstadt, 50, were charged with possession with intent to manufacture or deliver, which is a felony, and other drug-related charges, after police raided 1123 S. 48th St. (near Chester Ave.) yesterday afternoon.

Lippert is being held on $1.5 million bail, according to court records. Eisenstadt’s bail is $1 million. Both are being held at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility.

Witnesses say they saw police removing large trash bags and planting pots from the home, which property records show is owned by Lippert.

Police are investigating robberies of two 7-Eleven stores and an attempted robbery of another 7/11 store in the area – at 42nd and Walnut Streets, 58th Street and Whitby Avenue, and 73rd Street and Elmwood Avenue. Police are still looking for the suspects.

The robbery spree started right after midnight at the 58th and Whitby store when a man walked in the store, pointed a long silver revolver at the clerks and demanded money. Both clerks were able to run into secured rooms at the store and the suspect fled without taking anything.

The store at 42nd and Walnut Streets was robbed about 15 minutes later, at approximately 12:15 a.m. by a person whose description matches the first attempted robbery. In this case the suspect also pointed the gun at the clerks, then went behind the counter, pulled out the entire register drawer and fled from the store with approximately $2,000.

The third robbery took place at about 1:30 a.m. at the 7-Eleven store located at 73rd Street and Elmwood Avenue. This time there were two suspects, one of whom was armed with a large silver handgun. The robbers removed cash from the registers (about $320), some scratch off tickets, the clerk’s phone, and also robbed one of the store customers (took his phone and car keys).

No injuries were reported.

The suspect with a gun is described as African American male, dark complexion, 6’2” to 6’4”, slight facial hair, 20 to 25yrs, thin to medium build. He was wearing a dark gray hooded sweat jacket, an orange brimmed baseball cap and dark blue jeans.

Police are investigating this unsettling incident reported by one of our readers.

“I was riding my bike home from work at 5:45 PM this past Wednesday, June 13th, when a car approached me from behind at a high rate of speed and someone leaned out of the passenger window and pushed me into the back of a parked car. I was pushed with enough force that I thought I had been hit by the car and a witness later told me what had happened. I broke my scapula and separated my shoulder bad enough to require surgery.

The car did not stop and no one attempted to rob me, so it appears this was done for fun. This happened on the 4600 block of Larchwood. Please get the word out there for cyclists to watch their backs.”

Police said that the vehicle involved in this incident is an older brown Buick LeSabre. The car fled west on Larchwood after the attack. Description of people in the car was not available.

We are passing along information about an incident that happened to a neighbor near 48th and Hazel this week. Police advise being cautious when using your cell phone in public.

Alissa was walking down the street with her baby daughter in late afternoon and talking on her phone (an iPhone) when a man ran up to her and grabbed her phone. Alissa wasn’t able to give a detailed description because it happened too fast. Here’s what she writes:

“I just wanted to let everyone know that my iPhone was stolen from my hand (while I was talking on it) on Tuesday, 6/12 on the 4800 block of Hazel Ave at 4:45 PM. The person who took it ran up from behind me, snatched my phone from my hand and continued running very fast. I was carrying my 1 year old daughter in a carrier at the time, so I was quite upset about it. The guy didn’t hurt me or my daughter. He did knock my glasses off, but I think that was accidental since he grabbed the phone when it was up against my ear. We are OK and we filed a police report, but they don’t anticipate finding him or the phone. The police were very responsive and helpful though. They came about 2 minutes after calling 911. We tried to track the phone, but he immediately turned it off and hasn’t turned it on since. I just wanted to give everyone a warning… Please be very careful with having your cell phones out when you are walking around.”

Phone snatching is on the increase around the city.

The Southwest Detectives Division encourage citizens to participate in their recently launched anti-burglary program Operation ID. Currently the program is piloting in West Philly (12th, 16th, 18th, and 19th Districts) and is coming soon to the entire city. The program has existed in other cities for decades. Here is the national site.

The program participants receive specially coded labels to tag their valuable items that the police could trace back to them in case they get stolen. Police say that thieves and burglars are “less likely to steal an item that can be positively identified and that will be difficult to sell.” The labels will also aid in locating owners of the stolen or lost property and help criminal prosecution in pursuing the case through the courts. Finally, item identification should help in recovery as stolen or lost property is more likely to be returned to the owner.

In addition to the labels, those who participate in the program receive special window stickers (pictured) to discourage burglary at your place.

OK it’s not an armed guard at your door, but every little bit of prevention is useful.

If you are interested in applying for this program, go here for more information and to download an application form or stop by your police district. NOTE: You need to be a Pennsylvania citizen to be accepted in the program.

Here is more information on the 12th, 16th, 18th and 19th District headquarters:

12th District
65th St. and Woodland Ave.
police.co_12@phila.gov
215-686-3120

16th District
39th St and Lancaster Ave.
police.co_16@phila.gov
215-686-3160

18th District
55th St and Pine St.
police.co_18@phila.gov
215-686-3180

19th District
61st St and Thompson St.
police.co_19@phila.gov
215-686-3190

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.

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