Man on lam wets his pants

When the law finally caught up with Lamont Cooke, he wet his pants.

The 22-year-old spent the last year on the run for a variety of crimes, ranging from the kidnapping and torture of a West Philadelphia bar owner to a murder in Maryland.

But Cooke's life on the lam ended at about 4 a.m. yesterday when U.S. Marshals and a SWAT team cornered him at a girlfriend's house in Vernon, Conn., said Deputy U.S. Marshal Andrew Tingley.

Although investigators found a 9 mm handgun in the house, Cooke went quietly, save for his loss of bladder control, Tingley said.

The marshals were able to track Cooke down after a viewer recognized him on an episode of "America's Most Wanted" that aired in the area over the weekend, and called in with a tip, Tingley said.

A court hearing will be held in Connecticut today to determine when Cooke will be extradited back to Philadelphia.

Philadelphia police said that Cooke and four cohorts shot and kidnapped Clinton Harriott, the owner of Club William Penn, 57th and Ludlow streets, last July.

They proceeded to stab and torture Harriott in a rowhouse basement for four hours, and demanded that his family pay $500,000 ransom. Harriott managed to escape and survive the ordeal.

Cooke's accomplices remain on the loose. *