Offensive Weapons

Aggravated-assault charges have been filed against two township residents who were accused of stabbings in separate domestic disputes over the weekend. Joseph Church, 30, of the 1900 block of Ridley Mill Lane, is accused of stabbing his girlfriend in the neck, back and arms after allegedly beating her and throwing her down the stairs of their residence about 11 p.m. Saturday. The woman did not require hospital treatment. Church also was charged with simple assault, possession of prohibited offensive weapons, reckless endangerment, making terroristic threats, harassment and disorderly conduct.

Three men have been charged with attempted murder after gunfire during which two children were wounded in what police described as a drug-related dispute in Darby Township. Police said they received a call at 12:54 p.m. last Thursday about a shooting in the 1200 block of Calcon Hook Drive in Darby Township. When they arrived, they found Dana Dowell, 8, of the 1500 block of Newlin Street, who was wounded in the mouth by shotgun pellets, and Tieyone Sargent, 13, who was wounded in the right leg. They were treated at the Fitzgerald Mercy Division of the Mercy Catholic Medical Center.

After witnesses for the prosecution failed to appear at a preliminary hearing, attempted-murder charges filed against three Darby Township men were dropped. "We are not ruling out collusion and intentional uncooperation by the witnesses," Assistant District Attorney John Whelan said in a telephone interview. He said the Delaware County District Attorney's Office might reinstate the charges. Lt. Robert Thompson of the Darby Township police said that one of the witnesses was related to two of the suspects and that others might be connected to the other man who was charged.

A Chester man sought in the Jan. 5 shooting of a 17-year-old Ridley Township youth surrendered to Springfield police about 11 a.m. Saturday, accompanied by his attorney. A warrant had been issued for the arrest of Steven Phillips, 20, of the first block of East 22d Street, in connection with the shooting of Charles Mincey, 17, of the 2500 block of Franklin Avenue, Secane, about 9 p.m., after a basketball game at Springfield High School. Mincey's left wrist and chest were grazed by the bullet from a small- caliber handgun.

A 23-year-old Lima man faces a preliminary hearing Tuesday after being arrested at Granite Run Mall this week with a loaded gun in his waistband, and three loaded handguns and about 200 rounds of ammunition in a duffel bag, state police said. Acting on a tip, a half-dozen state troopers arrested Derek Harry Dugdale of the 200 block of Hunter Street without incident at 2 p.m. Tuesday by the Pocket Change Arcade, state police said. The informant told police that Dugdale would be at the mall with stolen handguns, state police said.

A 12-year-old Willow Grove boy will face a judge within 10 days on charges that he tried to rape a 94-year-old woman in her home last week. At his detention hearing yesterday in Abington, it was determined that the boy would be held at the Montgomery County Youth Center until his hearing, said James Reustle, deputy chief of Montgomery County Juvenile Probation. A detention hearing is akin to an adult arraignment, where all the charges are formally read. Reustle said that the boy would probably be psychologically tested.

A police disclosure last week that several Great Valley High School students had purchased homemade grenade bombs from a Chester County man has jolted school administrators. "This is obviously a very serious event," principal Adele Corbett said in an interview Tuesday. "We don't want to see anything further happen and we hope to use it as a learning experience for all the students in the building. " Tomorrow a portion of all first-period classes at the school will be used to discuss the bombs.

Police have charged Jamar D. Cosby, 18, of the 300 block of Rose Street, Chester, with attempted homicide after he allegedly shot two people here early Saturday morning. A 17-year-old boy is also in custody in connection with the shootings. According to an affidavit filed by Ridley Township police, the incident took place about 4:40 a.m. in the 1600 block of Constitution Avenue. Police responding to a report of a shooting found Courtney Etchison of Philadelphia shot in the upper right arm, and Dawn Chavis of Woodlyn shot in the lower right arm. Both were treated at Crozer-Chester Medical Center and released.

Some people should learn from their past. Christopher Keown, police said, should bear this thought in mind. Police said that on June 24, Keown, 18, who has no known address, stole a car from a relative's house on Eighth Avenue after burglarizing the home to get the keys. Two weeks later, he and his friend Benny Wheatley, 21, address unknown, traveled to Atlantic City, where they were arrested in the stolen car. After the men were charged with receiving stolen property and drug violations, they were released, borough police said.

Charges of attempted murder and driving under the influence have been filed against a Sharon Hill motorcyclist accused of grabbing a Darby Township police officer's gun and pointing it in his face. An affidavit filed by police gave this account: Bryan Keith Wilkins, 28, of the 1200 block of Tribbit Avenue, was operating his Kawasaki motorcycle recklessly and refused to stop when police signaled him to do so in the 900 block of Hook Road at 12:32 a.m. Saturday. He drove off at a high rate of speed and crashed at 84th and Bartram Avenues.

The Eagles offense should get a boost this week, though it might arrive too late to save the team's season. For the last four weeks, the offense that started hot has been missing at least one of its top weapons. Michael Vick, Jeremy Maclin, and DeSean Jackson have not played together since the team's Nov. 7 loss to the Chicago Bears. All are expected to be on the field Sunday, putting the team's top talent back into the passing game and possibly helping others. "It definitely opens the offense up for everybody else," Vick said.

A paroled burglar who absconded from a Philadelphia halfway house Nov. 6 fired on police from his suburban motel room Sunday night, then apparently took his own life as a SWAT team closed in, according to police. Police in Lower Providence Township said they issued a warrant for Ricardo Soraya Noris, 48, of the 3800 block of Germantown Pike, Collegeville, after they learned he was wanted for a parole violation. When officers received a tip that Noris was staying at the Blue Eagle Motel on Ridge Pike in Collegeville, they knocked on his door and were met with "several gunshots" from inside the room.

AFTER LAST Sunday night's game, Marty Mornhinweg said one of his responsibilities as the Eagles' offensive coordinator is to make sure DeSean Jackson is getting the ball enough. Jackson acknowledged he isn't shy about reinforcing that point with Mornhinweg, quarterback Donovan McNabb or coach Andy Reid. Truth is, Mornhinweg can be pulled in a lot of directions these days. The Eagles, who are pretty much assured of a playoff berth if they defeat the visiting 49ers Sunday, might never have fielded this many weapons.

WHAT ARE YOU always told? Be accountable. Speak up for yourself. Walk into the boss' office and tell him in no uncertain terms what you can do for him, how you can help. Six games into this season, Eagles fullback Leonard Weaver had carried the football four times for 16 yards. He had caught seven passes for 35 yards. "Early on I was like, 'Man, are they going to use me more?' " Weaver, the fullback, was saying yesterday in the team's locker room. "Because I wasn't really on the field much, even as a blocker.

Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Phelps. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to decipher why Donovan McNabb's secret meeting with the Eagles was such big news. Is he not allowed to meet with the organization that employs him? Is his determination that the Eagles need more offensive weapons some sort of earthshaking revelation? And isn't all this just a standard negotiating - or, in his case, renegotiating - ploy?  As always, should either of you be mocked or sued, Jim Cohen will disavow any knowledge of your opinions.

The executive director of the Abington YMCA said yesterday that he would "rethink" continuing a popular monthly teen dance in light of numerous fights that erupted after Saturday's dance, resulting in more than a dozen arrests. One of the three adults arrested early Sunday with four juveniles was arrested again Monday with four other adults and a juvenile in connection with attacks police attributed to lingering hostilities from the weekend. "I hate to pull the plug on something that good kids look forward to because of a few bad apples, but that unfortunately may be the consequence," Jim Sheldon, the Y director, said in an interview last night.

Big Red's Machine has finally arrived. Andy Reid, "Big Red" to many of his players, came to the Eagles promising to design and run a high-scoring, big-time version of the West Coast offense. Three games into his fourth season, with quarterback Donovan McNabb at the controls, Reid has an offense that has produced 105 points. That's the team's most explosive start since 1950, when the Eagles scored 111 points in the first three games. The last two weeks, the Eagles have completely taken two NFC East rivals apart, beating Washington, 37-7, and Dallas, 44-13, in the span of six days.

Upper Darby's Dante DeSantis was the other guy, a smallish halfback who did much of the blocking that helped burly fullback Anthony Maggitti rush for nearly 1,500 yards last year. Zach Richards was the other guy. He hardly touched the ball. Hardly complained. Just bided his time. Richards and DeSantis are showing what they can do for Upper Darby. Maggitti has moved on to Widener, and a pair of running backs who took second and third billing for the Royals last season are the keys for a squad that improved to 2-0 with a 28-0 thrashing of Penncrest in a Central League opener Saturday.

Seven women were arrested Tuesday night on charges of attacking six teenage girls with hammers, scissors, an anti-car theft device, a metal rod and a box cutter, police said. The seven, ranging in age from 18 to 22, are Rekia Glass, Tina Johnson, Delores Johnson and Aja White, all of Philadelphia; Rosymarie Johnson and Quianna Johnson, of Darby; and Natalie Williams of Morrisville, Bucks County. Police said they received several 911 calls about 9:30 p.m. alerting them to a large fight in the 300 block of Darby Terrace.