A plaque memorializing a Philadelphia police officer who was fatally shot in the line of duty three decades ago has gone missing from a sidewalk on South Broad Street, authorities said Wednesday.
The plaque commemorating Charles Knox had been installed outside the Walgreens store at the corner of Broad Street and Snyder Avenue, the site of a former Roy Rogers restaurant where Knox was killed during a robbery in 1992.
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On Tuesday night, an officer who was patrolling the area noticed that dirt and debris surrounded the space in the sidewalk where the plaque had been dedicated by Knox's family and friends in 2013. Investigators contacted the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 5 and management at the Walgreens to see whether they were aware of the missing plaque. Both said no authorization had been given to remove the memorial.
Authorities are reviewing surveillance video from the area to determine when the plaque was removed from the sidewalk. Police said it may have been missing for an extended period of time before the theft was noticed.
The FOP is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
"I'm saddened and angered that someone would allegedly steal a memorial plaque dedicated to one of our beloved heroes, Officer Charles Knox," Roosevelt Poplar, president of FOP Lodge No. 5, said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the Knox family on this sad day."
Knox was 31 years old when he was fatally shot at the Roy Rogers on Aug. 30, 1992. He and his partner, Tony Howard, had been called to the restaurant around 8:45 p.m. for a report of two armed robbers.
Provided Image/Philadelphia Police
Charles Knox
When the officers arrived, Knox found one of the suspects in a back office with a gun to the manager's head, police said. Knox ordered the suspect to drop his weapon, but the man lunged at him and a struggle ensued. A second suspect then entered the office and pressed his gun beneath Knox's vest, firing a shot that knocked the officer to the ground. The same suspect then shot Knox in the head, killing him. The gunmen fled the store. Knox's partner was wounded during the robbery, but survived the shooting.
Knox had joined the Philadelphia Police Department in 1990 and died with just under two years of service.
A monthslong investigation of the shooting led to the arrests of brothers Tucker and Allen Ginn, who were both convicted of murdering Knox and sentenced to life in prison.
The Ginn brothers had claimed that they were coerced into confessions and that police had used faulty fingerprint evidence and testimony to build their case against them. The Ginns challenged their convictions in court years later after obtaining FBI files that suggested the potential involvement of a third suspect. Days after Knox was killed, a man was flagged by a bankteller, because he tried to exchange a roll of coins that had come from the Roy Rogers in South Philly. That person never faced prosecution in the case, and all of the Ginns' court appeals over the years have been rejected. Allen Ginn died in prison from cancer in 2020.
Police did not say whether they suspect the theft of Knox's plaque might have been targeted.
"The Philadelphia Police Department is committed to preserving the memory of our fallen officers," Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said. "We are taking this matter very seriously and are asking anyone with information to please come forward."
Anyone with information about the missing plaque can call the South Detective Division at (215) 686-3013 or the Philadelphia police tip line at (215) 686-8477.
