Philadelphia police apprehend man with 30 prior arrests for illegally carrying gun

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Philadelphia police apprehended a man who had 30 prior arrests on his record for illegally carrying a firearm earlier this week.

The suspect, 45-year-old Dean Bloodworth, was arrested in the area of 55th and Belmar streets, where officials say there has been an increase in gun violence.

"He fought the officers. The officers had to actively restrain him," said Captain Scott Drissel of the 12th police district.

Action News has learned Bloodworth's 30 prior arrests include one for attempted murder and a number of others for illegally carrying a gun.

"I don't believe in mass incarceration. I believe in strategic incarceration. I believe in holding people accountable that have shown they don't, I guess, care about the community's safety," Drissel said.

Action News reached out to the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office about Bloodworth's case.

Spokeswoman Jane Roh told Action News she was looking through his record and so far has not found "any sentencing that is out of step with state-mandated guidelines."

"When you have 30 prior arrests...you know, I don't care what age you are, that's a lot of priors. At what point are people going to be held accountable?" said Drissel.

Gun violence has skyrocketed across the city, including the 12th district in Southwest Philadelphia.

"We were third in the city with gun violence last year, so it's a priority of ours to get out there and make an impact in the community," said Drissel, the commanding officer of the 12th district.

In the 18th district, firearm arrests are up 50% year to date compared to last year. And out of 175 gun arrests in 2020, the captain there says only one has been completed in court because the courts are mainly closed due to COVID.

The 12th district has a similar problem.

"I understand COVID is a very serious thing, but we have to hold people accountable for their actions. We can't be waiting three years to go to court, and that's what we're seeing early on here," said Drissel.

Bloodworth is currently being held on 10% percent of $350,000 bail.

Drissel says the bail magistrates identify that this man is a menace and they are taking the community's safety into account.