PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia police are looking for a group of car thieves who managed to evade officers early Wednesday morning. A police SUV was damaged in the ordeal, and two stolen cars crashed.
The chaotic sequence of events started around 2 a.m. Police responded to the area of Rowland Avenue and Rhawn Street for reports of people breaking into and stealing cars in a parking lot.
When officers got there, they saw three or four people scrambling to get into three cars. One of those cars sped off and hit a police vehicle on the way out, said Chief Inspector Scott Small.
The sergeant in the SUV was not hurt. He then tried to follow the thieves.
Two of the stolen cars, an Acura and a Honda, made it about a mile away to Holme Circle and Ashton Road, near the Sunoco gas station.
“They clearly were involved in an auto accident or auto accidents,” Small said. “The Acura is in stolen status. It was stolen [Tuesday], and that vehicle appears to have struck a traffic pole, tearing it from its base.”
Tim Jimenez/KYW Newsradio
The Honda sustained back passenger-side damage. Police said the engines of both cars were still running, but there was no one there. The third stolen car, believed to be a red sedan, was missing.
No one has been arrested. The two crashed cars were towed away before dawn as part of the investigation. Police are going through them for evidence and also looking through surveillance footage in the area.
