LIMESTONE, N.Y. – Four New York State troopers were still
checking cars passing out of the state on U.S. 219 South Labor Day
evening, looking for fugitive Ralph “Bucky” Phillips, 44.

A trooper at the roadblock just past Rock’N’Rick’s in Limestone
told The Era Monday night that while he knew the officer count
involved in the manhunt for Phillips was beefed up over the
weekend, he could not give an exact number of officers working per
shift.

He did say, however, that officers were working at the
roadblocks at the state line, as well as 22 roadblocks in
Chautauqua County, in 12-hour shifts night and day. He said he was
not aware of any suspicious incidents there at the state line
Monday.

The trooper said that most motorists passing through the
roadblock are cooperative and understanding about the “necessary
precautions” being taken. Many of them are already used to it, he
said.

The trooper spoke from inside his marked sports-utility police
vehicle, which was parked off Route 219 directly across the road
from a marked New York State police patrol car. With two officers
per vehicle, the pairs were taking turns -ðone taking a break while
the other pair stopped passing vehicles. Officers shone flashlights
into the vehicles, checked trunk spaces and then waved them past
across the state line into Bradford, Pa.

While the officers were armed, they did not have any firearms
drawn during the searched at the time The Era was at the scene.

While there was at least one confirmed sighting of Phillips in
Bradford early on after his escape from prison April 2, there have
been no confirmed reports that he ever returned to the area. The
New York State Police and the Pennsylvania State Police, who have
joined the search efforts, have said they think Phillips was in
Warren twice in the last four weeks.

New York State Police Superintendent Wayne Bennett said during a
press conference Monday afternoon in Fredonia, N.Y., however, that
the police have no reason to think Phillips has left Chautauqua
County since the Thursday shootings of the late Trooper Joseph
Longobardo, 32, and Trooper Donald Baker Jr., 38.

The roadblock at Limestone was set up Thursday night, hours
after the troopers were shot in the woods near Pomfret, N.Y.
Phillips is the main suspect in those shootings.

Police said Monday hundreds of calls are pouring in with tips
about possible sightings of Phillips.

A reported sighting of Phillips early Sunday evening at Wal-mart
in Fredonia had dozens of officers converging on the parking lot
shortly after 5 p.m. only to discover the tip was a false
alarm.

The “suspect,” however, turned out to be a Fox News television
producer from New York City in town attempting to interview the
cousin of Phillips, whom he had heard worked at the department
store in Fredonia.

Keith E. Greenberg, producer of “Geraldo at Large,” has long
dark brown hair and a beard and mustache similar to Phillips’, as
evidenced by a Buffalo News photo in Monday’s edition.

Reports indicate Greenberg was surrounded by police and pressed
up against a patrol car before he had a chance to show officers his
business card, proving he was not the suspected cop killer.