EASTON -- A drive-by shooting sent a 24-year-old South Side man to the hospital late Wednesday night, police said. Police said a car drove past 24-year-old Lodshraun Simmons about 10:54 p.m. in the 600 block of West Berwick Street and someone opened fire, squeezing off multiple shots and hitting Simmons once in the leg. A friend or relative rushed Simmons to Easton Hospital, where he underwent treatment. Detective Lt. Barry Golazeski said Simmons' injuries are not life-threatening. At least two vehicles parked in the area also were struck by bullets.
Golazeski said the shooting occurred in the lower section of the 600 block of West Berwick Street near the Strunk Funeral Home and one of the city's fire stations. Golazeski said police were unsure if the shooting was related to drug or gang activity in the area. "We don't know yet," he said. "Everything is open for right now." Simmons, of the 200 block of East Kleinhans Street, has had prior run-ins with police, according to criminal history records.
In April 2002, Simmons was charged with fleeing or attempting to elude police, driving under suspension, careless driving and stop sign violations for an incident that occurred in the 600 block of Church Street. Two years earlier, in September 2000, Simmons was arrested along with Taynell Cooley after police said they found two pistols in a vehicle that was stopped in the West Ward for a loud stereo, records say. Simmons, who was 19 at the time, and Cooley, who was 20, were removed from the vehicle after police found two six-packs of beer, reports say.
During the incident, police found .45-caliber ammunition in Simmons' pocket. While searching the vehicle, they also discovered a .380-caliber gun with a defaced serial number, a bag of suspected cocaine under the driver's seat and a ..45-caliber handgun under the passenger's seat. Simmons also was arrested a few months earlier in Bethlehem Township on charges of possession of crack cocaine, possession with intent to deliver, possession of a small amount of marijuana, fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, running a stop sign and reckless endangerment. Police said Simmons was driving south on Farmersville Road with a burned out taillight and refused to stop for police.
The disposition of those cases was unknown Thursday. Cooley, who has a lengthy criminal history, is serving time in state prison for beating a club bouncer who shot his friend, Markeith Webb, in the hand during an incident outside the Paradise Club in April 2004. Golazeski said police have no evidence that Wednesday's shooting is related to the killing last week of 17-year-old Roy Jenkins. Jenkins, who lived on South Side, was gunned down Aug. 8 as he stood on a porch in front of 1011 Northampton St. Golazeski said police have no new information on Jenkins' killing.
"We don't have anything new to release at this time," Golazeski said. "We've been meeting with the district attorney (John Morganelli) advising him of the progress in our investigation. But we don't have an arrest warrant in hand, and we don't have anyone we're willing to identify at this point."