Body Armor

The Police Department is dropping plans to buy more than 4,000 men's ballistic vests from American Body Armor, of Fernandina Beach, Fla., because fabric for its vests failed penetration tests. The move reopens a heated competition for the contract to replace the older, heavier vests Philadelphia police officers sometimes decline to wear. Police Commissioner Richard Neal said yesterday that ABA, selected last year to provide the vests, would still provide more than 1,000 vests for female officers.

A fleeing gunman boarded a NJ Transit bus yesterday afternoon, forced its driver to switch clothes with him, then sat in the bus, surrounded by police, media and crowds of onlookers before surrendering more than three hours later. Police said the suspect, identified as Dwayne Thomas, 34, of the 500 block of Mount Ephraim Avenue, jumped on the bus in downtown Camden about 4 p.m. after hitting a police officer with his gun and firing two shots at other officers as they tried to arrest him as a robbery suspect.

Comcast Corp. pulled a cable-television advertisement Sunday that Democratic congressional candidate Lois Murphy claimed was false and misleading. The ad, prepared by the National Republican Congressional Committee, said that Murphy opposed a bill that would provide body armor to troops in Iraq. "Hard to believe," the announcer said, as "Source: Vote 669, 12/19/2005" appeared on the screen. Murphy, who is challenging U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.) in the Sixth Congressional District, could not have participated in the vote since she doesn't hold office, and has stated she supports funding for body armor, said James Lamb, her attorney in Washington.

For more than 12 hours a gunman, holed up inside an apartment in Asbury Park, N.J., kept law enforcement officials at bay. Finally, Officer Robin Eckel of the Monmouth County Sheriff's Department made the call: Bring in Solo. Minutes later, gunshots rang out, and Solo, a decorated veteran, was fatally wounded. Now, in his memory, private groups in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and across the country are raising money to provide bulletproof vests for crime fighters like Solo.

Jeffrey Seaman may owe his life to his bulletproof vest and his mother's advice. "Every day, when I leave for work, the last thing my mom always says is, 'Be careful and wear your vest.' Mom was right!" said the 26-year-old Philadelphia police officer yesterday, a grin creasing his face. Almost six hours earlier, Seaman was shot at almost point-blank range inside what he thought was a vacant house in the 2400 block of Howard Street in Fairhill. Seaman's body armor stopped the slug, which left only a bruise on his skin over the top of his stomach where the bullet would have entered.

Eight U.S. Marines have been accused of stealing plates used inside ballistic vests earmarked for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to documents unsealed yesterday in federal court in Philadelphia. Many of the plates were later sold on eBay by a Palm Springs, Calif., woman. The investigation is continuing, and a half-dozen other people, three of them military personnel, remain suspects in the case, officials said. The California woman, Erika Jardine, was sentenced yesterday to six months in prison and six months' house arrest by a federal judge in Philadelphia.

Are active and retired military personnel getting the support and benefits they need? What are your views on veterans' benefits, higher combat pay, material support such as body armor for the troops in Iraq, and better health care for reservists and their families? Send essays of 200 to 500 words to South Jersey Voices, 53 Haddonfield Rd., Suite 300, Cherry Hill, N.J. 08002. Fax 856-779-3221. E-mail sjvoices@phillynews.com.

AS THE POLITICAL season gets hot and heavy, there are a slew of political ads airing on Pennsylvania TV stations, but none have been so harsh as the ones in the race between Bob Casey and Sen. Rick Santorum. Santorum started his ad campaign off kindly enough, with messages of his love for seniors, as he walked around them as they were polka dancing. Now they've become increasingly harsher, with Santorum running an ad that portrays some Casey financial donors spending time in the same jail cell.

The tools of the trade say it all about baseball's most demanding position. None of the other eight players on the field are required to wear body armor - a mask, shinguards, a heavily padded glove, a chest protector. Oh yes, and a cup which, as Carlos Ruiz was painfully reminded two months ago, is not always sufficient. Catchers are the game's engineers. They call the pitches and position their teammates. They are the line of communication between the dugout and the field.

Nasuil Martinez must have been really taken with Carlos Fernandez's watch and diamond stud earrings. On Tuesday, a photo of Martinez, 21, allegedly sporting Fernandez's missing baubles became the evidence that led a Municipal Court judge to order the Kensington man to stand trial in the shooting death of Fernandez. Fernandez's death on Dec. 21 - and two incidents in which Martinez shot at a total of six police officers, wounding one - are part of an alleged crime spree that enabled Martinez to acquire in two weeks the sort of criminal record that takes some people years.

WASHINGTON - Throughout history, military gear has been made with the male physique in mind. But for women in today's combat or in jobs close to combat, that can mean body armor that fits so poorly firing a weapon is difficult, combat uniforms with knee pads that hit around mid-shin, and flight suits that make urinating while in a plane nearly impossible. With women taking on new roles, the issue is getting fresh attention from the military. Seven hundred female Army troops are testing a new combat uniform for women with shorter sleeves and knee pads in the right place for their generally shorter legs.

Shonna McNeil offered the jurors her best reason why they should spare the life of admitted murderer Rasheed Scrugs, her estranged husband and the father of her two boys, ages 5 and 6. "I think every child deserves to have a father and know who that father is," she told the eight women and four men. "The only ones who are really hurt in the end are the children. . . . I want my kids to know who their father is, that he is not a bad person and has a good heart. " For Kimmy Pawlowski, it must have seemed the final insult.

Three police officers who fatally shot a man at a Germantown playground in April have been cleared of wrongdoing, the District Attorney's Office said Tuesday. Vincent Parsons, 26, took aim at an officer and fired two rounds from a 9mm handgun before the officers returned fire, District Attorney Seth Williams said. "The three officers acted properly in this situation," Williams said. "Vincent Parsons fired first, and the officers had no other choice but to fire back. " Officers James Allan, Bryan Outterbridge, and Oronde Watson had been working a plainclothes detail around midday April 2 with another officer when they spotted Parsons on the front porch of a house on the 200 block of West Clapier Street.

The assault rifle used to kill Philadelphia Police Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski was powerful enough to wound him critically even after the bullet penetrated his patrol car door, a firearms expert testified Friday. "It was not unusual at all for it to go through a car door," Kenneth J. Lay, an expert in firearms identification and ballistics, said in referring to the Chinese-made SKS military assault rifle whose shots hit Liczbinski eight times. "What about body armor?" asked Assistant District Attorney Jude Conroy.

The assault rifle used to kill Philadelphia Police Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski was powerful enough to wound him critically even after the bullet penetrated his patrol car door, a firearms expert testified Friday. "It was not unusual at all for it to go through a car door," Kenneth J. Lay, an expert in firearms identification and ballistics, said in referring to the Chinese-made SKS military assault rifle whose shots hit Liczbinski eight times. "What about body armor?" asked Assistant District Attorney Jude Conroy.

ARE YOU HAPPY today, NRA? Your message appears to be getting through. Today, three Pittsburgh police officers are dead, their families bereft, their city and state in shock. While responding to a domestic dispute Saturday, the three were shot and killed by a man wearing body armor and using an AK-47. Reportedly, the argument between Richard Poplawski, 25, and his mother was over Poplawski's dog peeing on the floor. But a motive for killing the cops might be found in the racist, anti-Semitic Web sites Poplawski read and posted on - and the fact that he was convinced that Barack Obama was going to take away his guns.

The smallest guy on the team was carrying the heaviest load as the Eagles sauntered off the field toward their air-conditioned oasis following another morning of beating on one another in the soppy air at training camp. DeSean Jackson was weighed down with equipment, most of it not his own. In his right hand, he had Hank Baskett's helmet, shoulder pads and jersey. He was lugging Brian Westbrook's body armor in his left hand. Moments later, Omar Gaither showed no mercy as he handed Jackson his helmet.