PARENTS WANT ANSWERS

They Want to Know How Son Could Shoot Self in Cop Car

The parents of a Southwest Philadelphia man who police said shot
himself in the head while handcuffed in the back seat of a cop car
demanded answers yesterday from the Police Department.

Oliver P. Neal Jr. and his ex-wife, Beverly, sat next to family
attorneys and complained that police have not contacted them about
their son, Oliver P. Neal III, 26, of Wheeler Street near 57th.

"They haven't the decency to knock on my door," said Neal. "Why
didn't they contact us? What kind of system is that?"

Neal, 46, said he learned that his son was clinging to life - 10
hours after the Monday-morning incident - through co-workers at the
post office.

William Colarulo, Internal Affairs chief inspector, said last night
that the family should have been contacted. However, he said he
wouldn't know if notification had occurred until he checked.

The younger Neal was driving with a female friend in South
Philadelphia shortly before 1 a.m. Monday when he was stopped by two
officers in a patrol car.

It was still unclear yesterday what prompted the cops to pull over
Neal. But police sources said officers patted Neal down and found
packets of cocaine and marijuana.

Cops also learned that Neal was a "scofflaw" with outstanding parking
tickets, police said.

The officers cuffed Neal and put him in the back of the squad car
alone as they waited for a police van to take him to the 1st Police
District, at 24th and Wolf streets, a police source said.

Then the shot rang out, police said.

Police said Neal shot himself once in the back of the head with a
stolen .40-caliber Smith & Wesson pistol.

The bullet exited his mouth, shattering his jaw and severing his
tongue, his family said.

Neal was listed in critical condition at the Hospital of the
University of Pennsylvania. His parents said that doctors yesterday
installed a metal plate in his mouth.

Police said they were still investigating to determine why the two
officers who stopped Neal did not find the gun during their initial
search and how Neal came to be shot.

The woman who was with the younger Neal was at the news conference.
She spoke with police about the incident, the family said, but they
would not disclose what she told police.

Neal is the oldest of three and graduated from Dobbins High School,
his family said.

He studied music at the Settlement Music School for about seven years
and planned on a singing/producing career.

Neal's parents said they knew nothing about the gun, but stressed
that their son would never contemplate suicide.

"We have no information to suggest that he did have a firearm," said
Neal family lawyer, Robert J. Levant, during a news conference
yesterday at his office on 18th Street near Callowhill.

Levant represented Neal in 2004, when he was charged with a number of
gun-related crimes. He was acquitted.

Court records show Neal was arrested at least two other times since
1999 on charges that included attempted murder, robbery and illegal
gun possession. He pleaded guilty in March 2000 to weapons violations
for obilerating the serial number on a gun.

"He had his problems in the past, but that has no bearing on what
occurred," his father said.

Levant said he wants to review all police documents related to the
investigation.

He also said that a nearby store's surveillance video caught the
action and that he hopes the department will allow the family to view
it. Meanwhile, the officers who stopped Neal remain on normal street
duty, police said.