Friends seek justice for man killed in Port Richmond crash
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Philadelphia Police Department identified the man in a wheelchair killed in a crash in Port Richmond involving a stolen vehicle as 38-year-old Bill Repko. It happened over the weekend at Castor and Aramingo Avenues as police were chasing suspects in a stolen Cadillac.
Repko's friends say while he was experiencing homelessness, he was known to many as a kind person who enjoyed speaking with people.
"Turn yourself in, turn yourself in," Christina Hagerty said.
Friends are making an urgent plea for justice as a memorial now sits at Castor and Aramingo Avenues in honor of Repko, who police say was killed while he was in a wheelchair panhandling Saturday night.
"He'd do anything for you that he could," Hagerty said. "Shirt off of his back if he could."
"He was nice, he was just very nice to me. Like she said he would give you the shirt off of his back," Tanya Gallagher said.
Police say a stolen Cadillac crashed into another vehicle and spun out of control as Repko was hit and killed.
"I'm sad, I cried last night," Tracey Norton, of Logan, said. "I knew it was him when I saw that wheelchair mangled in the street."
Norton knew the victim in passing when she spoke with him on her way to a nearby car wash.
"He was smart, he was educated," Norton said. "Just because he was out here on a corner doesn't mean his life doesn't mean anything because it means something to me."
Days later car parts remain left behind at the intersection.
Officers arrested a 19-year-old suspect identified as Efrain Rosario. He was charged with VUFA-no license and VUFA, but three others who police say were in the stolen car remain on the run.
"It is absolutely horrible, absolutely tragic and unfortunately not just one life is changed by it. It's a ripple effect," Haggerty said.
On Monday, CBS3 saw police gather security video from a nearby business that may have captured the crash and possibly those three suspects.
No video has been released.
