For a long while, developer and coffee-shop owner Ori Feibush was best known outside of real estate circles for Lotgate, the scandal that erupted after he converted a vacant lot next to his coffee shop into a seating area and garden-type thing, only to have the city come down on him because, well, he didn't own it. The story went national and then international and since then we here at Curbed, at least, have always tried to refer to him as Ori "Lotgate" Feibush.
But now it's time for a change. The latest non-real estate news about Feibush is that he helped catch the man who allegedly murdered Center City pediatrician Melissa Ketunuti. The woman lived at 17th and Naudain, not far from Feibush's OCF coffee shop at 18th and South, which, apparently, had pretty darn good surveillance.
From the Daily News:
After days of poring through surveillance video from his coffee shop and other cameras he owns in the area, Feibush realized around 3 p.m. Wednesday that he had clear video of Jason Smith, a 36-year-old exterminator who was taken into custody for Ketunuti's murder at his Bucks County home Wednesday night. The video showed Smith coming and going, Feibush told the DN, and it was that return trip that made him realize who it was:
Feibush said he ran and grabbed homicide detectives who were right outside his coffee shop. "They were in absolute shock as well," he said. "There was the guy, walking in broad daylight with no hat on, not hiding his appearance in front of a very powerful surveillance camera."
Feibush said that if his camera had been aimed in a different angle, or if Smith had walked across the street, his image might not have been captured so clearly.
"I honestly believe this guy would still be on the loose for a long time, if not forever, without video surveillance," Feibush said.
· Philly developer: My video shows alleged doctor-killer coming, going [DN]
· Lotgate archives [CPHI]
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