A man who is accused of robbing a dispatcher as she walked into work at Philadelphia Police Headquarters earlier this month has been arrested, authorities said.
Lonnie Watlington, 40, was charged with aggravated assault, robbery and related offenses in connection with the Sept. 15 robbery, Philadelphia police officials said.
Philadelphia police said Watlington attacked and robbed the dispatcher in front of their new headquarters at Broad and Callowhill streets in Center City shortly before 6 a.m., when he allegedly ran at the woman from behind, grabbed her backpack and violently pulled her to the ground, dragging her about 10 to 15 feet before fleeing the scene with her bag.
Philadelphia police released video of the attack caught on cameras outside their building.
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The 25-year-old woman works as a dispatcher, police said, in the building where dozens of police vehicles surround at any time of the day.
“She was on her way to work, going in at 6 – her shift starts at 6, literally a few steps from the door,” said Gordon Zimmitt, the president of the union that represents the woman, AFSCME Local 1637. “The worst thing we can have is people thinking that police headquarters isn’t safe.”
Zimmitt said the woman was recovering after being hospitalized.
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It was not immediately clear what her condition was as of Saturday afternoon.
The same morning, after purchasing food for a man panhandling inside a convenience store, officers reviewed a patrol alert and realized the man might’ve been behind the robbery near police headquarters. A review of surveillance video found that the man the officers encountered was the same man involved in the robbery.
Watlington was arrested on Sept. 21 on the 300 block of N. Columbus Boulevard wearing the same or similar clothing as seen in the convenience store surveillance video, police said.
At police headquarters, Watlington gave officers a hard time establishing his identity to process his arrest, police said.
