Camden police van's impact killed suspect, official says The man tried to escape a drug arrest on a bike, then was struck while stumbling, the county prosecutor said.

By Sam Wood INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Posted: August 08, 2003

CAMDEN — The Camden man killed during a police chase Wednesday was struck by a police van after he jumped or fell off his bicycle, authorities said yesterday.

Devon Still, 30, died of head injuries after the van hit him in an empty lot in the city's Bergen Square section, Camden County Prosecutor Vincent P. Sarubbi said.

Still was taken to Cooper Hospital-University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

"Still fell or jumped off the bicycle and moved into the path of the van, which struck the decedent," Sarubbi said in a statement.

The van's driver, Officer Troy Redd, a 10-year Camden Police Department veteran, has been placed on paid administrative leave.

Redd, 36, and another officer told investigators that they had seen Still make an apparent drug transaction about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday near Fourth and Line Streets.

The officers, assigned to the department's community policing unit, tried to arrest Still. But, they said, he jumped on a blue mountain bike and took off.

While the other officer ran after Still, Redd drove and caught up with him in an unpaved lot on Locust Street between Pine and Spruce Streets. Still was stumbling to his feet when the van struck him, Sarubbi said.

Investigators said they had found several glassine packets containing suspected heroin near Still's body.

Contact staff writer Sam Wood at 856-779-3838 or samwood@phillynews.com.

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