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Two Plead Guilty In 2009 West Philadelphia Armored Car Robbery, Shootout

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Two men pleaded guilty today to charges resulting from an armored car robbery, high-speed chase, and shooting in September of 2009 that left an officer wounded and endangered countless people in West, South, and Southwest Philadelphia.

Bryan Williams, 53, and Anthony Reid, 46, admitted stealing $100,000 from an armored car employee in a daring mid-morning armed robbery at 52nd and Spruce Streets.  They took off with Officer Julius Caesar in pursuit.

"We were travelling at a high rate of speed for a few blocks," Officer Caesar recalls, "where he saw one male hanging out of the window and he fired at me.  Fragments of the ricochet from the bullet were flying up the window and the emblem was hit on my car, and I thought I was hit.  When I realized I wasn't shot I proceeded with the chase," Caesar said today.

Other officers joined the pursuit even as the bandits were smashing into parked cars.  The chase came to an end in Southwest Philadelphia when the suspects crashed, but Reid pulled his gun and officers fired.

Officer Adrian Hospedale was hit in the face by a ricochet and knocked out.  He has recovered physically and is now back on the job.

Williams and Reid now face 25-50 years in prison when they are sentenced.
Reported by Tony Hanson, KYW Newsradio 1060.

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