Fantasy time : Muslims are outraged

When a man in Philadelphia fatally robs a bank wearing Muslim garb, the
Muslims are outraged ... not because people died but because the Koran
forbids a man to imitate a woman.

Fatally shot robbery suspect was mastermind, source says

By KITTY CAPARELLA
Philadelphia Daily News

caparek@phillynews.com 215-854-5880
The mastermind of the Port Richmond bank robbery was Howard Cain, who
was fatally shot by police Saturday while fleeing in a minivan minutes
after he fired a once-banned high-powered Chinese assault rifle, killing
Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski, police say.

As investigators pieced together how a trio of killers met and plotted
the deadly bank robbery, scores of police and FBI agents searched from
Philadelphia to Lancaster County for the last suspect, Eric DeShawn
Floyd, 34, an escapee from a drug-treatment facility called Adappt, in
Reading.

Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey described Floyd as "armed and
dangerous" and urged him to turn himself in.

Yesterday, Lavon Warner, 38, a onetime sparring partner of former
heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield, was held without bail on murder,
robbery and related charges after his arrest Saturday.

Cain dreamed up the bank robbery, but his prison buddie, Floyd, had the
expertise, police said.

A police source said that every Friday, Cain, 33, of Cleveland Street
near Sheridan, in North Philadelphia, used to meet his boss at the Bank
of America branch inside the ShopRite Supermarket, on Aramingo Avenue
near Castor.

His boss would give him his weekly check, believed to be for working as
a roadside assistant helping motorists. Cain would cash the check at the
bank, the source said.

At the time, Cain was living in the same building, on Clearfield Street
near Sheridan, as Floyd, a fugitive, who had served a state prison
sentence for a 1994 bank robbery, the source said.

The two felons met Warner, the ex-boxer, in their North Philadelphia
neighborhood, the source added.

Cain apparently realized he couldn't hold up a bank where he was known,
so he and Floyd donned Muslim women's clothes - a hijab covering their
heads; long dresses, called an abaya; and face veils, called nik-ab - to
prevent detection, the source said.

Warner, of Westminster Street near 54th, wore a dreadlock wig and dust
mask, the source added. Then, the trio marched into the bank, and Sgt.
Liczbinski responded to the bank robbery alarm at 11:26 a.m.

The trio hopped in a blue Jeep Liberty. Hearing flash information about
the Jeep, Liczbinski chased the vehicle, which stopped twice before
hitting a pole. Cain jumped out and fired the high-powered SKS assault
rifle five times at the officer, hitting his left trunk and leaving him
in a pool of blood, at Schiller and Almond streets, police said.

Liczbinski's car had one bullet hole on the driver's side door.

The Jeep took off. Cain and Warner then switched vehicles and changed
clothes, hopping in a Chrysler Town and Country minivan, according to
police. Cain was alone, however, when stopped by police on Louden Street
near D, where he was killed by police.

At a news conference yesterday, Deputy Police Commissioner William
Blackburn said that outside the minivan, police found the 7.62 mm SKS
assault rifle, loaded with 25 rounds, which had been used in
Liczbinski's slaying. Five rounds found at the murder scene at Schiller
and Almond streetswere consistent with the SKS rifle.

Inside the minivan was a .44-caliber revolver, fully loaded with five
live rounds, two sets of Muslim clothing, $38,000 and two GPS tracking
systems.

Under a trash can nearby in a common driveway, police recovered a fully
loaded .22-caliber revolver and additional clothing linked to the
robbery.

Police found the blue Jeep Liberty, used in the officer's killing, on
Miller Street near East Ontario. The Jeep had been reported stolen by
Warner, after the robbery at 4:45 p.m. Friday, at Broad Street near
Allegheny Avenue.

In addition, a dreadlock wig, a dust mask and a blue bag with red
handles were also recovered.

Many Muslims expressed anger yesterday that criminals would jeopardize
Muslim women by wearing their garb.

"It puts sisters in danger," said one Muslim. Islamic researcher Fareed
NuMan said, "They couldn't be practicing Muslims, no way. The Quran
forbids a man to imitate a woman."

"Our [Germantown] Masjid is "saddened and angry," said managing director
Tariq El Shabazz, also a defense atttorney. "We, like the rest of
Philadelphia, are sick and tired of being sick and tired" of the
violence.

Anyone with information was asked to call the Homicide Unit at
215-686-3334 or the Citizens Crime Commission at 215-686-TIPS. *

Staff writer Dafney Tales contributed to this report.
--
Frederick Martin McNeill
Poway, California, United States of America
mmcneill@fuzzysys.com
w00t *********************************
"Calling an illegal alien an 'undocumented immigrant' is
like calling a drug dealer an 'unlicensed pharmacist'."
******************************************