Last call

Knowing cell phone calls can be traced, Lance Crawford decided to use pay phones while on the run from homicide detectives, police said. But that didn’t work out as planned for the 28-year-old because calls placed from public phones also can be tracked.

Crawford’s ignorance ended up being Philly Homicide’s bliss, as cops were able to find him through a series of North Philly pay phones he frequented in recent months, Homicide Fugitive Squad Detective Michael Walter told the Review.

When the suspect wanted for the Feb. 29 murder of 21-year-old Anthony Grasso showed up at 6 p.m. June 24 to use a phone at 27th Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue, police nailed him. "He used one phone 140 times," Walter added.

And so ended the flight of the man on three most-wanted lists: the Philadelphia Police Department’s, the Pennsylvania State Police’s and the U.S. Marshals’.

Crawford, whose last known address was the 2300 block of Franklin Street, was unarmed and taken into custody without incident, Walter said. He was charged with murder and related offenses.

Days after police say Crawford shot Grasso to death on the 600 block of Fitzgerald Street — in front of both their girlfriends who are sisters — an arrest warrant was issued. According to investigators, Grasso, from the 2100 block of South Fourth Street, had confronted Crawford about rumors the latter supposedly started about the victim cheating on his girlfriend.

Found in Florida

A murder fugitive from the 1000 block of Cantrell Street was apprehended in New Port Richey, Fla., Tuesday morning by the FBI. Details of the arrest of 46-year-old Anthony Durman, AKA Anthony Capella, were unavailable at press time.

Philadelphia police issued a warrant for Durman’s arrest June 20, six months after he allegedly beat to death roommate Victor Alfonsi during an argument, Homicide Fugitive Squad Detective Leon Lubi said.

A friend who went to check on Alfonsi at about 8:15 p.m. Jan. 15 found the 41-year-old lying on the living-room floor and the walls covered in blood, police said.

Durman will be extradited to Philadelphia in the coming days, where he will be charged with murder and recklessly endangering another person.

Hitting close to home

An 8-year-old boy was hit by a stray bullet that entered his house while he slept in the same bed with his 5-year-old brother who escaped harm.

A second bullet entered the dining room of the home on the 800 block of South Fifth Street and landed in the arm of a sofa where a 16-year-old was sleeping — that child also escaping harm, Detective Nancy Morley of South Detective Division said.

At about 3:10 a.m. Saturday, police were called to Riverview Apartments on the 400 block of Christian Street for a report of gunshots. There, they found eight .45-caliber rounds in a parking lot and a car nearby with its windows shot out, Morley said.

Searching the area, police discovered the victims’ home around the corner on Fifth with two bullet holes in the vinyl siding. The 8-year-old, who was hit in his left arm, was treated at the scene by a medic. An adult female, also unharmed, was home and sleeping in another room when the gunfire erupted.

Investigators do not the origin of the bullets.

To report information, call South Detectives at 215-686-3013.

Pro athlete faces gun charges

He grew up at 24th and Manton streets and went on to become a guard for the New Orleans Hornets. Now, Rasual Butler, 29, from Pembroke Pines, Fla., stands accused of pulling a gun near a Miami Beach nightclub June 23 and is charged with carrying a concealed firearm and improper display of a firearm, according to a copy of the arrest affidavit obtained by the Review.

According to that affidavit, witnesses said Butler and another male were arguing at about 5:20 p.m. outside Club Mansion when the former allegedly removed a firearm from his waistband, cocked it and pointed it at the victim.

Witnesses in the area started running and one called 911. Upon hearing sirens, Butler ran to his Lincoln Navigator parked on the block and, while sitting in the backseat, placed the silver automatic .40-caliber on the floor behind him, the affidavit said. When police arrived, they found Butler in the car and asked if he had any weapons, to which he replied his firearm was in the SUV. Police patted him down and found the 9mm loaded with nine rounds and one in the chamber on the floor behind the seat, the affidavit said.

When Butler was placed under arrest, he told officers, "Man, I’m a professional athlete. I didn’t do anything wrong," the affidavit said. The Hornets player also told police he didn’t know the man with whom he had been arguing and he never took his gun out of his waistband.

Butler was released on $6,000 bail.

Bank robber on the loose

The FBI is looking for the man who robbed Wachovia Bank, 2710 S. Third St., at 11:19 a.m. Monday.

The offender entered the bank and waited in the customer service line. At the counter, he handed the teller a demand note and a black plastic bag and told her to fill it, adding he was armed, FBI spokeswoman Jerri Williams said. With an undisclosed amount of cash, the man fled the bank in an unknown direction.

He was described as white, age 35 to 45, about 5-foot-9 with a husky build and dark hair. He had on a black T-shirt, blue jeans and brown work boots.

To report information, call the FBI at 215-418-4000.

Contact Staff Writer Lorraine Gennaro at lgennaro@southphillyreview.com or ext. 124.

High times

In a massive raid over 24 hours, police locked up 84 people and took half a million in drugs off our streets.

It wasn’t the first time a raid of this caliber had been executed in the city or even our area and, according to Deputy Commissioner William Blackburn, it won’t be the last.

"We have done this from time to time. We’re going to continue to do it when intelligence tells us to do it. We’re going to be relentless," the former chief inspector of the Narcotics Bureau told the Review.

Over a 24-hour period that began with a few search warrants served the evening of June 25, a team of local and federal authorities consisting of Philly Police’s Narcotics Field Unit, FBI and DEA descended upon South Philly to rid the streets of drug dealers and narcotics. When the last person was locked up and a search warrant served at about 7 p.m. June 26, 84 arrests had been made — including a 13-year-old girl and a 60-something grandmother. Confiscations included $500,000 in marijuana, heroin, cocaine and pills; 19 firearms; and $30,000. Blackburn said due to the number of suspects, names and mugshots were not being released.

According to the deputy commissioner, South Philly was targeted for specific reasons.

"We picked that area because we’ve seen an increase in some shootings and homicides, so we wanted to go into that area to seek assistance and intelligence in solving some of those crimes," he said. "We also went there because we received a number of complaints from the community about drug dealing."

Scores of officers in teams, mostly plainclothes with some support from uniformed cops, swept through all areas of the community. Blackburn declined to give the number of participating officers. In certain locations where firearms were expected to be present, S.W.A.T. supported the takedowns.

One notable bust was of a 13-year-old girl inside the home she shares with her mother on the 2000 block of McKean Street. When officers moved in Thursday, the teen was spotted allegedly packaging small bags of heroin, the deputy commissioner said. Police secured a search warrant for the home after narcotics officers executed an earlier buy from the girl’s mother during which the teen was present, Blackburn said.

Last week’s sting resulted from undercover cops making controlled buys and gathering evidence then securing more than 75 search warrants.

In one raid, police were led to Variades Latino Restaurant, 168 W. Cumberland St. in North Philly, where nearly $100,000 in heroin was stashed, Blackburn said. In another bust, a woman in her 60s was hauled off in handcuffs after agents allegedly found a firearm and dope inside her dwelling.

To report drug activity in a neighborhood, call 215-686-DRUG. Callers may remain anonymous.