An Upper Darby man, on the lam since late May after allegedly firing a gun on a playground, was captured this morning hiding in the attic of a house in Delaware County.



U.S. Marshals and Upper Darby and Lansdowne police officers took Dominic Love, 18, into custody without incident about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday from a house on Glentay Street in Lansdowne.

Upper Darby police initially used social media to locate the Drexel Hill man, who went into hiding shortly after the incident.

“He’s been a fugitive since then,” police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said. “We hit Wildwood and Wildwood Crest in New Jersey and couldn’t find him. Today we got him. The moral of the story is ‘you can run but you can’t hide.’”

Related story: Cops search for teen who fired gun at Drexel Hill playground

Love, of the 100 block of Burmont Road, was allegedly in the middle of a large group of teens about 3:30 p.m. on May 23 at the Bond Avenue Playground, 2339 Bond Ave., Drexel Hill, when he pulled out a handgun and fired a shot in the air, Chitwood said.

“Police received a call reporting a large group of juveniles were in the park and shots were fired,” Chitwood said. “Both groups fled. Nobody was injured. It was a gang fight and he opened fire and fired one shot. It didn’t hit anyone. Firing a gun into the air is reckless, dangerous and idiotic.”

Chitwood recalled the fight apparently started at Upper Darby High School, and was followed by a Snapchat message to meet at the playground after school.

“One of the participants called his boys in Philadelphia,” Chitwood said. “When both groups got there Love, who is not a student at Upper Darby High, allegedly pulls out a gun and fires it into the air, kind of like a warning shot. When he fired the gun everybody scattered.”

Love was identified by police and an arrest warrant issued after witnesses were interviewed.

He will be arraigned Tuesday night on charges of firearms not to be carried without a license, recklessly endangering another person and illegally discharging a weapon.

“This guy thinks he's a gangster and we're going to treat him like a gangster,” Chitwood said. “He’s a would-be gangsta. He isn’t talking and right away he lawyered up.”

According to Chitwood, the Marshal’s service and Upper Darby police determined where he could be found.

“We went to the house on Glentay and knocked on the door,” Chitwood said. “Somebody staying at the house opened the door. We found him hiding in the attic. Nobody was hurt when he was taken into custody. Now he’s off the streets.”

The gun used in the shooting was not recovered.