by Kevin Cooney
and David J. Foster
Staff Writers

Three men are in custody and two remain at large in one of the most bizarre robbery attempts in Philadelphia history.

Played out on live TV at the city's busiest transportation center, it featured over 50 police officers, at least five kidnappers, and 121 frightened and bewildered customers of Frankford's biggest check-cashing facility.

It began the day before, Feb. 6, at 5:30 PM. According to police, Nancy Ruiz, assistant manager of the Financial Exchange, Bridge St. and Frankford Ave., her husband Jorge Vasquez, and clerk Nilsa Romero were abducted outside the check-cashing agency by three gunmen who forced them into a green minivan.

The victims were bound, blindfolded, and driven to an unknown location until 9:30 that evening. They were then taken to Ruiz's home at 6th and Sedgley. The Ruiz children Ariel, 13, and Annette, 4, both inside, were also detained.

At around midnight, two of the kidnappers left, returning an hour later with William Livingston, 37, the agency's security guard. He was kidnapped leaving a pool hall at 15th St. and Hunting Park Ave.

At 6:30 AM, two of the suspects, one dressed in a security guard's uniform, took Ruiz to the Exchange. She entered the building with the man in the uniform.

The Exchange opened at 8 AM. A Brinks truck was scheduled to make a delivery at 9 AM. It was an hour late, dropping off over $200,000 in cash and food stamps at 10 AM.

At 10:15 AM, the suspect told Ruiz he was going to get my boys. I'll be back. He exited the front door.

The plan unravels

Between 9:30 and 10 AM, Nancy's mother, Rosa, rang the doorbell of the Ruiz home. The husband was permitted to go to the door to see who it was, said Police Commissioner Richard Neal. Rosa wanted to know why Vasquez hadn't dropped off Annette before work. Vasquez handed Annette to Rosa and whispered to her to phone the police.

At 10:17 AM, police radio reported a robbery in progress at 6th and Sedgley.

When police arrived, said Neal, the husband (Vasquez) ran out the front of the house. The suspects bolted out the back.

Police arrested Juan Rivera, also known as Jay Diaz, 21, of Olney, running from the house with a sawed-off shotgun. An hour later, police cornered the other three at 1400 block of Adams Ave.

The three males jumped from the car. One pointed an automatic weapon at a police officer. Gunfire was exchanged. No one was hit. Willie Small, 31, of Nicetown, was apprehended; the other two escaped. Ruiz later identified the men as two of their captors.

Rivera and Small were charged with kidnapping, robbery, and related offenses. Small was also charged with a similar robbery in December.

At the time of the Adams Ave. shoot-out, police phoned clerks in the Financial Exchange. Police were told there were people acting suspiciously in the building, Neal said.

Police decided to seal off the area and keep the 121 patrons, many elderly and children, in the building

What no one knew at the time was the kidnapper in the guard's uniform had already left.

The siege

At around 11:15 AM, police hostage negotiators spoke with Ruiz. Police were unsure if any gunmen were still in the building. An hour later, police asked Ruiz to leave the Exchange. At 1 PM, police surrounded the building.

Inside, confusion reigned. Police in flack-jackets and carrying bullet-proof shields guarded the unlocked doors, preventing anyone from leaving.

At 1:35 PM, heavily armed stakeout officers arrived. They positioned themselves on the roof of the SEPTA bus barn west of Frankford Ave. Others manned the El station steps on Frankford Ave. between Bridge and Granite, and in front of an adjacent restaurant south of the Exchange.

In the confusion, rumors ran rampant about bombs, the number of hostage-takers, and that they were carrying assault weapons. All were proven false.

At 2:20 PM, a sign appeared in the front door window. Kathleen Little, a hostage, posted a note to police: No Guards, No Guns. Little said later it was the only way she could communicate with police, who kept yelling at me to get inside, she said.

Twenty minutes later, one officer shouted: They're watching this on TV inside. From early afternoon, local TV stations were broadcasting the crisis live. Police ushered reporters to the corner of Bridge and Bustleton to prevent cameras from recording the specific details.

At 2:30, one hostage, Louis Little, who later said he was tired of waiting, walked out of the Exchange and greeted by the cocking of police guns.

Within a half-hour, those inside were allowed out one at a time in one-minute intervals. Police, concerned suspects might attempt to sneak out with the hostages, searched everyone who exited. They were then loaded onto three waiting SEPTA buses and driven to Northeast Detectives, Harbison Ave. and Levick St., for a debriefing.

Two individuals who were acting suspicious were briefly detained. They were not charged.

On Monday, a third suspect was. John Milbourne, 41, of Smedley near Westmoreland, was charged with kidnapping and robbery. Police also identified Percy St. George, 29, of Logan, as a fourth suspect.