Rooftop Chase, NJ Fugitive, Switch Guns: PA AG Sunday’s Philly Task Force Nabs 7 Armed Felons
A violent felon chased across a North Philly rooftop. A wanted man tied to New Jersey. Teens flaunting illegal machine gun-modified pistols on social media.
The items seized and the scene of the rooftop chase.
All arrested in a wave of takedowns led by Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday’s Philadelphia Gun Violence Task Force, officials announced Tuesday, July 15.
Philly Gun Task Force Targets Repeat Offenders
Seven people — including convicted shooters and suspected drug traffickers — were recently arrested in coordinated raids across Philadelphia, state prosecutors said.
The cases involve illegal switches that convert pistols into fully automatic weapons — the same type of device linked to the recent Grays Ferry mass shooting, officials noted.
Rooftop Chase: Wanted Shooter Askia Tisdale Caught
Askia Tisdale, 20, fled onto the roof of a home in the 1600 block of North 6th Street while agents executed a search warrant on Friday, July 12, officials said. He was wanted in connection with a February shooting that targeted people filming a music video on North 12th Street.
Police arrested him nearby. Inside the home, they recovered a loaded polymer ghost gun with an extended magazine. Tisdale was charged with felony firearms without a license. His bail is set at $500,000.
Social Media Gun Flaunting, NJ Fugitive Busted
- Nyfesse Saunders, 30, a convicted shooter on parole, was caught July 10 with a loaded Glock with an obliterated serial number and oxycodone pills, officials said. He previously shot and critically injured an off-duty corrections officer in 2010. His bail: $750,000.
- Juan Sierra was seen on social media firing a handgun out of a moving vehicle — one equipped with an illegal full-auto switch, according to agents. He was arrested July 9 along with Yenpaur Sanchez in a gun and drug case. Sierra’s bail is $275,000. Sanchez’s is $100,000. Both have prior convictions.
- A 16-year-old boy under juvenile supervision was caught with two loaded handguns on July 9. He had also flaunted the weapons in online videos, officials said.
- Quadir Abdul-Raheem, 20, on bail for robbery, was arrested July 2 after agents found a .40-caliber handgun with a machine gun switch. His bail: $750,000.
- Darrell Cherry was arrested July 1 after a raid on East Birch Street uncovered a loaded Beretta and more than 700 packets of heroin, meth, crack cocaine, and marijuana. His bail is $750,000 — and he’s also wanted by New Jersey authorities, officials noted.
‘Clear Disregard For Human Life’
“These arrests are the result of strong collaboration between our local, state, and federal partners,” said Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin J. Bethel. “People who repeatedly carry firearms that they know they’re not allowed to have — especially guns modified with switches — show a clear disregard for human life.”
Investigations into prior shootings and drug networks involving the suspects are still ongoing.
