Cars

More than 39,000 people piled into the Philadelphia International Auto Show in its first two days Saturday and yesterday at its new home at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Saul Kun, chairman of the auto show, sponsored by the Automobile Dealers Association of Greater Philadelphia, said yesterday's total of 19,902 paid admissions was 4,000 more than last year's first Sunday of the show. Kun and Robert Butera, executive director of the Convention Center, said parking and traffic problems did not materialize despite the crowded, Center City environs of the Convention Center.

To better document encounters between officers and the public, video recorders will be mounted in police cars of the Delaware River Port Authority. The DRPA board approved a plan Wednesday to spend $343,987 to install the recorders in 48 cars used by officers who patrol the authority's four toll bridges and the PATCO commuter rail line. The cameras will be purchased from Computech International of Great Neck, N.Y. They will automatically record an officer's actions, providing "indisputable documentation" of all encounters and improving internal investigations of public complaints, the DRPA said.

George Dunning of Oreland looks over a 1962 MG Model A at a show of British cars held Saturday at the Hope Lodge in Fort Washington. The cars were displayed by the Delaware Valley Triumph Club, the Philadelphia MG Club, the Philadelphia Austin Healey Club and the Delaware Valley Jaguar Club.

Motorists who call the West Goshen police for help when they lock their keys in their cars will find their requests low on the department's list of emergency priorities. Police Chief Michael Dunn told township supervisors Tuesday night that "an astounding number of calls received in the past year" had forced his department to review its policy of assisting motorists who need their cars unlocked. Dunn said the 18-member department received 974 calls since September 1986. Most of the calls were from township residents who had locked their keys in cars or trucks.

Detectives here are investigating the smashing of eight cars' windows in the Pennypacker, Buckingham and Millbrook Park neighborhoods Tuesday night. The first report of a broken window was at 9:50 p.m., when the driver's side window of a 1973 Ford truck parked on the 100 block of Melbourne Lane was smashed. Within the next hour, the windows of five more cars were reported smashed: a 1989 Mercury Tracer parked in the 100 block of Buckingham Way; a 1988 Ford Escort and an Oldsmobile Cutlass, both parked in the 200 block of Pheasant Lane; and a 1990 Buick Century and a 1984 Ford Tempo, both on the 100 block of Marshall Lane.

Police have issued another alert to borough residents after the second rash of overnight thefts from automobiles in less than a month. Overnight on Feb. 5 and 6, 41 vehicles were entered in the northwest sector of the borough. Ten more incidents were reported overnight Monday, this time in the northeast sector. All of the cars were unlocked, police said. One victim reported that $150 in two bills had been taken from the glove compartment. The owner of another car reported $80 missing.

It began as a simple neighborhood cleanup effort yesterday in West Kensington. But by day's end, some streets were strewn with overturned and abandoned cars, some of which had been set on fire. After city trash trucks drove by without picking up the garbage, police say, some angry residents took to the streets in a frenzy of protest. For several hours, they rode through the neighborhood, pushing abandoned cars into the middle of the streets, heaving them over onto their roofs and setting some of them on fire.

The two mayoral candidates sparred over the issue of abandoned cars yesterday as Republican Sam Katz came out with his plan for getting rid of the estimated 47,000 heaps dumped along Philadelphia streets. Posed in front of an abandoned car parked outside the John B. Stetson Middle School on Allegheny Avenue, Katz came out with a detailed plan that combines up to $500,000 in more state money with streamlined city procedures. "Burned out, rusted and vandalized vehicles are more than just eyesores," Katz said.

The headline over Sandra Thompson's Sept. 11 Letter to the Editor was reversed. It should have read, "Motorists create danger on River Dr. " Drivers have a lot of gall driving their cars through what is essentially a city park and demanding that bicycle riders be ruled off the roadways. The problem of course is that the recreational nature of Fairmount Park, like most other things in our society, has been subjugated to insatiable demands of an ever-growing army of motor vehicles. This motorization of the environment, a process that is virtually complete in the suburbs, has already ruined most American cities and is eating away at Philadelphia bit by bit. If Philadelphia does not find a way to grow and prosper without succumbing to this process, most of the things that make this city more livable than most American cities will eventually be lost.

What do you do when one of your neighbors tinkers with cars until the wee hours of the morning, spills oil on your driveway, then spray-paints in his garage until the fumes seep into your child's bedroom? Calling police is not the answer, according to a group of Folcroft residents who lodged complaints at Monday night's Borough Council meeting. The neighbor has a scanner, they said, which alerts him before the police arrive. Area residents identified the alleged offender as George Custodio, who was not at the meeting and could not be reached for comment.

An Episcopal Academy high school student died Thursday night when he crashed his SUV in Radnor. Paul Lewis Pratt, 18, was a junior on the crew team. His four-man varsity squad was scheduled to row in the Stotesbury Regatta Friday at Boathouse Row in Philadelphia. Pratt crashed his Chevy Suburban on the 1300 block of Eagle Road in Radnor, just before 8 p.m. Thursday, said Radnor Police Superintendent Bill Colarulo. "He apparently lost control. He hit a curb, which caused his vehicle to roll into a tree," Colarulo said.

To better document encounters between officers and the public, video recorders will be mounted in police cars of the Delaware River Port Authority. The DRPA board approved a plan Wednesday to spend $343,987 to install the recorders in 48 cars used by officers who patrol the authority's four toll bridges and the PATCO commuter rail line. The cameras will be purchased from Computech International of Great Neck, N.Y. They will automatically record an officer's actions, providing "indisputable documentation" of all encounters and improving internal investigations of public complaints, the DRPA said.

A former New Jersey state trooper who led an "embarrassing" high-speed escort of luxury sports cars to Atlantic City was sentenced Monday to a year of probation. Nadir Nassry, who had held the rank of sergeant, also must perform 75 hours of community service as part of the sentence imposed by Superior Court Judge Bradley J. Ferencz in Middlesex County. Nassry, 48, of Phillipsburg, forfeited his job when he pleaded guilty in March to falsifying or tampering with records. He had been on the force for 26 years, earning an annual salary of $110,000.

Dean Jeffries, 80, a legendary auto customizer who was one of the first hot rodders to chop, channel, and soup-up automobiles during the car-crazy 1950s in Southern California, died May 4. He had been in declining health, and his death was confirmed by his son, Kevin. Mr. Jeffries was an automotive jack-of-all-trades, working as a stuntman, car builder, and race-car painter and pinstriper. Mr. Jeffries' distinctive paint jobs and sculpted bodywork attracted many admirers to his auto shop, including the likes of James Dean, Steve McQueen, and A.J. Foyt.

A Camden man died early Sunday after being shot several times in his car and then crashing the vehicle while trying to flee from the gunfire, according to police. Rayshine Burks, 24, was shot in his gold Buick Century in front of Center Food Market at the intersection of Henry and Royden Streets around 12:30 a.m., the Camden County Prosecutor's Office said. He drove away but crashed into a tree after two blocks, police said. He was taken to Cooper University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.

ELMA, N.Y. - U.S. women's national soccer team midfielder Carli Lloyd has been cleared to play for the Western New York Flash after missing the last two months recovering from a broken left shoulder. The Flash said that the former Delran High star is scheduled to join the National Women's Soccer League team for practice Friday. She has been out since hurting her shoulder in Team USA's 3-0 win over Iceland in the Algarve Cup on March 6. Lloyd was assigned to the Flash in January, shortly after the league was established.

AFTER WATCHING Kurt Busch's race car temporarily "parked" atop Ryan Newman's car late in Sunday's Talladega race, I wondered whether NASCAR officials shudder when they watch major wrecks and think "We are so lucky a driver wasn't killed. " We've had so many major wrecks at the treacherous Alabama superspeedway that people just seem to take them in stride: "Oh, another big one. A mess, but let's move on. " Newman clearly was furious about the wreck that sent Busch's car airborne.

A Bucks County man who once admitted having stolen at least 500 cars for a chop-shop operation has been arrested again, this time for allegedly stealing 31 contractor vans in Philadelphia and breaking into 19 more. David Zagami, 38, of the 2700 block of Filbert Avenue in Croydon, was arrested Tuesday and charged with 56 counts of theft, receiving stolen property, and related offenses, District Attorney Seth Williams announced Wednesday. Eric Guerra Chacon, 36, of the 200 block of Louden Street in Philadelphia, was charged with receiving stolen property from Zagami and attempting to sell the items.

  Broad Street was a no-go. I-95 was a parking lot. And game-day traffic hadn't even started yet. On the highways in and around Philadelphia on Sunday, a traffic disaster brewed with a fiery early-morning crash on I-95 near Broad Street shutting down that section of highway for much of the morning - while the Independence Blue Cross Broad Street Run rendered that 10-mile city spine off-limits to vehicle traffic until close to noon. The accident happened about 6 a.m. on the northbound side of I-95 when a tractor-trailer hit an empty, disabled car, State Police Cpl. Gerard McShea said.