Dramatic Testimony at Sergeant Liczbinski Murder Trial
by KYW's Steve Tawa
The Philadelphia jury hearing the trial of the two men charged with killing police sergeant Stephen Liczbinski has heard about his last moments, before his deadly confrontation with a bank robber. (see previous story)
As Donna Rymal was sweeping in front of her Port Richmond rowhome, she saw what looked to be a routine vehicle stop, a patrol car, with lights on, had slowly pulled up behind a jeep at Almond and Schiller Streets. But suddenly, 'a big angry man,' as she described him, jumped out of the passenger side of the jeep with an assault rifle, and fired a burst of shots at the patrol car.
Another neighbor, Mark Porowicz, heard sergeant Liczbinski yell 'no, no, no.'
Rymal, who had to pause several times to re-gain her composure, says the gunman kept firing as he approached the patrol car. Sergeant Liczbinski was hit as he tried to get out. She says the shooter walked within 3-4 feet of the fallen officer and kept firing. Then, the gunman turned around, looked directly at her, and non-chalantly got back into the jeep, which pulled away.
Sergeant Liczbinski was hit eight times. The gunman, Howard Cain, was shot and killed by police in the manhunt that followed.
