April 24, 2015
A Philadelphia police officer who was wounded late Thursday night after a brief gun battle with a drug suspect in West Philadelphia left the hospital on Friday afternoon.
Officer Daniel Kostick, of the 19th district, was on bike patrol with fellow officers near Wilton Street and Girard Avenue when the officers approached a man in a van for possible narcotics violations, police said.
"When they go to try to approach the male, the male backs up, makes a u-turn," Deputy Commissioner Richard Ross told 6ABC. "They go to follow him and lose him in the area."
Kostick, however, found the driver at 51st and Master Streets.
"They're having a brief discussion," said Ross. "The man turns to him and says, quote, 'I don't want to have to do this,' fires at Officer Kostick, striking him in his right arm."
Kostick returned fire at the suspect, identified as 35-year-old William Nobblen, who was found wounded in the alley on the 5000 block of Master Street. Nobblen remains hospitalized in stable condition and will be charged with attempted murder and other offenses, 6ABC reports.
Nobblen, who lives on the 4200 block of Leidy Avenue, has 13 prior arrests for crimes including DUI, robbery, and assault. Deputy Commissioner Richard Ross said Nobblen should have been behind bars rather than out on the streets and armed with a gun.
Kostick, joined by a police escort as he left the hospital, has returned home to his wife and two young sons.
