'You don't want this smoke': Philly sheriff delivers stern warning to residents who hide fugitives

Amid a press conference earlier this week announcing the arrest of one of "Philadelphia's most wanted" fugitives, city Sheriff Rochelle Bilal gave a stern warning to residents who hide fugitives, WTXF-TV reported.

What are the details?

"Let me just say this. Because of the weekly exposure of those most wanted in the city and county of Philadelphia, people who don't want this smoke coming to their house are beginning to call and let us know where they are," she said. "So I repeat again, when you see this person, you know where they are, they have to sleep somewhere, you need to let us know so that we can get 'em off the streets. And I'll repeat: You don't want this smoke. Let us know."

How did folks react?

Twitter commenters under the WTXF video so far have been nearly universally critical of Bilal's "you don't want this smoke" statement. Here are a handful of them:

• "She’s a professional talking this way?" one commenter noted. "Unbelievable."
• "Stop speaking gang lingo and speak like a professional," another said.
• "Clearly someone worthy of doubling her salary…" another quipped.
• "A disgraceful nitwit who barely manages the English language," another declared.
• "What a joke!" another exclaimed.

What are the details?

Bilal said members of the Sheriff's Fugitive Warrant Unit, U.S. Marshals, and Philadelphia Police Department's Homicide Unit arrested Gregory Burnett in Darby, WTXF reported. Darby is just a few miles southwest of downtown Philadelphia.

Burnett is accused of fatally shooting a 31-year-old man in 2020, the station said, and Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney Joanne Pescatore said he's been on the run since the shooting.

City law enforcement leaders are looking for help from the public to catch nearly a dozen murder suspects who've been roaming Philadelphia streets for years, some since 2019, WTXF reported.

District Attorney Larry Krasner during the press conference asked fugitives to turn themselves in: "So, if any of you care about someone who is a fugitive or any of you are a fugitive, turn yourself in. You will receive fair and just treatment, and your willingness to turn yourself in will be noted and will play a part in how that case is resolved."

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