Prichard Councilman Talks Criminal Confrontation

Prichard Burglary Napoleon Bracy Junior says it all happened fast when he held an accused burglar at gunpoint.

by Chad Petri

Published: Sun, August 30, 2009 - 8:21 pm CST Last Updated: Sun, August 30, 2009 - 8:29 pm CST

Prichard Councilman Napoleon Bracy Junior says he was doing a walk-through tour of Glendale Elementary school Friday, 8/28/2009, with two other people when a man he didn't know ran towards him.

“I un-holstered by weapon and ordered the guy to the ground,” says Bracy. That man was 48-year-old Philip Johnson, who is now charged with burglary. Bracy says the suspect had a sack of burglary tools. Another man tied up the suspect while they waited for police.

“I’m also a former police officer, prison chaplain and I’m shocked at the professionalism councilman Bracy had,” says Lou Principe. He was with Bracy on the tour and used some old wire to tie up the suspect. Bracy says he wanted to use Glendale as the site of a new welding school. In the year it's been closed vandals have smashed windows, made off with wire and torn doors open.

“The school has a fantastic history and it's a shame it's gotten vandalized like this,” says Principe. Councilman Bracy says you'll end up with a total of 1 to 2 million dollars worth of damage if you add up all the incidents of vandalism at the school.

“We were disgusted we were kind of hurt knowing that this could probably jeopardize the project that we're doing because now we're looking for another site,” says Bracy. He describes the incident as more heartbreaking than exciting.

“I don't want to beat my chest and say yeah we arrested the guy and we got him to the ground that's not something that I’m proud of because it was some kind of social issue that drug him and brought him to that point,” says Bracy. He says Johnson told him he was sorry before police arrived.

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