Charges
in New Year's
Eve killings
* Frankford and Lehigh avenues
Kevin Brown, 30, was stopped for a traffic violation at 1 a.m. yesterday, but cops soon charged him with more-serious violations. Brown was arrested and charged with murder and related crimes in the New Year's Eve shooting deaths of Arlette Aguero, 31, of Tampa Street near Wyoming Avenue in Juniata Park, and Alejandro Garro, 36, of Dungan Road near Cottman Avenue, Burholme.
Police Capt. James Clark, commanding officer of the homicide division, said that after arguing with Aguero earlier, Brown asked her to meet him on 2nd Street near Chew Avenue, in Olney, where he shot her and Garro more than once as they sat in a parked 2001 Hyundai Elantra just before midnight Dec. 31. Police said that Garro was not involved in the argument and was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Brown has no known address, police said.
Where's the beef?
* Columbus Boulevard
near Noble Street
One of the saucier crimes committed in the ziti of Philadelphia left police scratching their noodles yesterday, trying to catch two carnivorous thieves who stole 17 cases of frozen meatballs in the wee hours from a tractor-trailer parked in Old City.
While the driver dozed in dreamland, the thieves lifted 510 pounds of meatballs, and got away in what police described as a brown Ford van.
If they can unload the purloined pasta accompaniment before the cops close in, the Ground Beef Bandits will be riding the gravy train for sure.
Heist suspect
apprehended
* Bensalem
Bensalem police have charged Peter Romagano, 28, a township resident, with two armed robberies. Romagano is also awaiting armed-robbery charges in Lower Southampton and Warminster. In all four robberies, Romagano allegedly entered pharmacies, showed a Bowie-style knife and demanded prescription medications.
He was in Bucks County prison yesterday in lieu of $200,000 bail.
According to police, in late October Romagano leaped over the counter of Belmont Pharmacy in Bensalem, confronted the owners and stole prescription medications.
On Nov. 2, he allegedly did the same at Gary's Pharmacy, in Lower Southampton.
On Nov. 21, he allegedly robbed Belmont Pharmacy again, then allegedly robbed Maxwell's Pharmacy, in Warminster.
- Dan Geringer and staff reports
