“Bucks jeweler slain in city”

Posted: 22 Oct 2010 12:10 AM PDT

A Northampton Township man was shot and killed Thursday defending one of his jewelry stores during a botched robbery in the Lawncrest section of Philadelphia, police said.

William Glatz, 67, who also owns a store in Warwick, died during an exchange of gunfire with one of the two suspects. The dead suspect has not been identified. A second alleged robber, who made off with nothing, is still at large, police said.

It's unclear if Glatz or another store employee shot one of the robbers.

Philadelphia police said they planned to review surveillance video from inside the store which they believe captured the robbery on tape.

Glatz was shot in the chest and died at a hospital, police said. The alleged robber died inside the store -Glatz Jewelers - at Rising Sun Avenue near Levick Street.

Glatz is the second-generation owner of the jewelry store. He and his wife, Donna, opened a second store in the Warwick Shopping Center more than a decade ago.

Glatz has lived on Brooke Drive, in the Holland section of Northampton, for 45 years, said family members standing outside his house Thursday night.

"He was a very loved man," a woman said. "He really was."

Glatz has two adult children and two grandchildren, the family members said. He loved to fish and he was a great jeweler, the family members said.

David Craig Rotenberg, who owns David Craig Jewelers in Bucks County, said he knew Glatz though the jeweler community.

"He was a good guy, an upstanding community guy," Rotenberg said. "He and his wife are hard working people. It's a really pity what happened, just an absolute pity. Stuff like this makes you scared to be in the business."

In Warwick, a sign was taped to the door of William Glatz Jewelers that read: "Sorry for (the) inconvenience. Closed for Emergency."

Bouquets of flowers were placed inside the handle of the door.

Frank Pagano, manager of the Wine and Spirit Shoppe, one store down from the jewelers, said the husband and wife were "pillars of the community."

"They have been here a long time," said Pagano. "They are great people."

Pagano said the couple had talked about getting out of the Northeast Philadelphia store where Thursday's shooting took place.

Wayne Ulrich, who works at the liquor store, said the couple had just come back from taking a cruise.

"It's a real shame," said Ulrich.

People in the close-knit working-class Philadelphia neighborhood where the shooting occurred said Glatz's store was a fixture for as long as they could remember. Though the family moved to Bucks County several years ago, Glatz enjoyed returning to the old neighborhood and his longtime customers, said Charles McKeown, a former neighbor whose family also ran a business down the street for decades.

"His father had the store before him. Everybody knew the family," said McKeown, who now lives in Cheltenham Township. He came to the scene of the shooting after getting word of Glatz's death.

"He was quiet, meek, mild. Just a gentleman," McKeown said. "He loved his job."

The jewelry store is located between a pharmacy and a beauty school on a bustling strip of storefronts topped by apartments. Neighbors said family-run shops like Glatz's are being replaced with dollar stores and other businesses with little connection to the community, and many residents believe crime is on the rise.

"This used to be a wonderful place for families," said Eileen McGannon, 44, a lifelong resident. "There were parades on the Fourth of July, kids would go trick-or-treating up and down the avenue at Halloween. All that has changed."

Police were working to identify the alleged robber slain in the store.

Investigators said they do not believe anything was taken in the robbery.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Ben Finley can be reached at 215-949-4203 or bfinley@phillyburbs.com

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