Courier-Post
6-28-03
By Tom Lounsberry - Pennsauken, New Jersey
A 15-hour manhunt ended Friday afternoon with the arrest of a Camden
man who police say tried to kill a borough police officer by stealing
his patrol vehicle and running him down before fleeing.
Police kept watch on several friends and acquaintances of Raymond E.
Rodriguez after Thursday night's attack on Merchantville Police Sgt.
Eric Schmidt on West Cedar Avenue. Rodriguez, a parolee, was found
hiding in the back seat of a friend's car that police followed and
stopped about 2:30 p.m. Friday in the 6900 block of Central Highway,
Pennsuken.
Schmidt, 51, was in critical but stable condition Friday at Cooper
University Hospital in Camden. He suffered multiple injuries, including
broken ribs and a punctured lung.
The 23-year police veteran is expected to recover, police said.
"The officer is doing well, all things considered," said Merchantville
Police Chief Robert E. Ward, Jr. "He's in a lot of pain and all I can
say is, God bless him because of all he has been through."
Rodriguez, 36, of the 1100 block of Chestnut Street, Camden, was charged
with attempted murder of a police officer, aggravated assault and carjacking.
He was being held Friday night in the Camden County Jail awaiting a bail
hearing and arraignment in Superior Court.
Authorities gave this account of the incident, which occurred shortly after
11 p.m., Thursday:
Schmidt, called to West Cedar Avenue on a domestic complaint, arrived to find
Rodriguez doing wheel spins on a motorcycle in the street. The officer
approached Rodriguez who had been staying temporarily at his girlfriend's home
on West Cedar.
Rodriguez jumped off the motorcycle and attempted to run away. Schmidt pursued
him and the two men fought near the officer's Ford Explorer patrol vehicle.
Rodriguez tried to grab the officer's gun, but failed. He knocked the officer
to the ground with a motorcycle helmet, then jumped into the Explorer and sped
away, running over Schmidt, police said.
"He (Rodriguez) could have taken several routes of escape, but he deliberately
made a sharp left turn and ran over the officer," said Camden County Prosecutor
Vincent P. Sarubbi. "The rear wheel of the patrol car ran up the middle of his
chest."
As Rodriguez fled, the patrol car struck another vehicle, then hit a tree on
nearby Whitman Terrace in Pennsauken. The suspect then fled on foot.
More than 80 area police officers searched the area throughout the night.
The effort was called off about 8 a.m. Friday, although some spot searching
continued, Ward said.
This was the second time Schmidt was wounded on duty.
Schmidt and Pennsauken Sgt. Charles Wheeler were injured on Feb. 7, 1990
during a standoff and eventual shootout at the home of a mental patient.
Schmidt was shot in the chest and he still has the bullet inside him.
Wheeler was treated for a graze wound and released.
In 1993, the patient, David M. Wirtz, was ruled incompetent to stand
trial on charges stemming from the incident.
Rodriguez is well known to police. He was released on parole on Jan. 16
after serving four years in state prison for numerous convictions, including
aggravated assault with a gun in which a person was injured, weapons charges,
auto theft, and receiving stolen property.
His parole was scheduled to expire Nov. 27, 2003.
Police said it was later learned the motorcycle Rodriguez was riding had
been reported stolen in Maple Shade on Tuesday from an apartment complex
off Route 73.
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