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ERIE, PA-During the manhunt for Ralph "Bucky" Phillips after one state trooper had been killed and another seriously injured, the Police Benevolent Association for the New York State Police offered a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Phillips.
A Pennsylvania couple. Jack and Gloria Young of Warren, has filed a federal lawsuit claiming the reward pot which they say totals $350,000. Phillips was captured Sept. 8 in Akeley, Pa., just south of the New York State line.
Phillips, who had escaped from the Erie County Jail in New York in April, is suspected of killing New York State Trooper Joseph Longobardo and wounding two other troopers including Donald Baker of Clifton Park who was on a surveillance with Longobardo when both were shot.
The Youngs claim in their lawsuit that it was their tip that led to the capture of Phillips, saying that they called police shortly before midnight on Sept. 7 after they saw a suspicious person near their property.
The couple says that the PBA is wrongly withholding the reward money.
The $350,000 includes $25,000 from the PBA and $100,000 put up by the FBI in addition to money from other groups.
Phillips has been charged with the attempted murder of Trooper Sean Brown in June near Elmira. 11-16-06
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© 2006 North
Country Gazette
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