When Philly Crime Gets Even Scarier, It’s Mott’s Applesauce To The Rescue!

When you read enough stories about people shot to death, unless you have a personal connection to one of the victims or suspects, it begins to just all blur together. (There have been 211 homicides this year — along with 286 drug overdoses, yikes — sadly.)

Not every crime, though, ends with a murder. (Although the rape/assault/robbery in Port Richmond Saturday didn’t end with one, it seems almost as bad.) Some have happy endings — well, as happy as any crime be.

Yes, that’s right, children. Sometimes heroic grocery store shoppers save the day. A man walked in and attempted to rob Gomez Grocery in East Germantown, locking the door and pointed his gun at the customers. (This, according to a 15-year-old quoted in the Daily News article, which helpfully notes she was buying a smoked turkey sandwich.) But 66-year-old (!) Thomas Santana grabbed the guy from behind in a bear hug, wrestling him to the floor with the help of store owner Eddie Gomez, causing the man to fire two wild shots, hitting himself in the head.

But the suspect still wouldn’t give up his fight, so the quick-thinking Santana turned to an item more dangerous than a gun: a jar of Mott’s applesauce.

Startled, the gunman fired two wild shots, shooting himself once in the head - the bullet entered and exited his head. Still, he wouldn’t give up his gun, Matthews said.

So, Santana grabbed a nearby jar of Mott’s applesauce off a shelf and slugged him four times in the head.

“Finally, the guy passes out,” said [Det. Curtis] Matthews. “There’s blood everywhere - on the floor, all over.” Meantime, the 15-year-old girl and her cousin had fled to the kitchen with another man and woman and closed the door. “I started crying and praying and stuff,” the girl said.

Remember: If applesauce were outlawed, only outlaws would have applesauce. It’s the most delicious weapon.

Drug overdoses are outpacing homicides [Daily News]
Robbery, assaults, rapes rock Port Richmond block [Daily News]
Customer helps foil store heist [Daily News]