PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — After a series of carjackings and car break-ins linked to a pair of teens from a home for abused and delinquent youth, authorities in Bensalem Township are advising residents, particularly in the Brookwood and Eddington sections, to be vigilant.
Bensalem police say a woman was carjacked at gunpoint in the parking lot of the Oak Court Apartments about an hour after several residents went missing early Monday from St. Francis & St. Vincent Homes, which provides residential case management for teens and young adults coming from the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.
After the woman was robbed of her cell phone, two young men sped off in her Honda Pilot. Police found the vehicle, unoccupied, nearby.
Tuesday morning, about 24 hours later, police responded to a report of a stolen Toyota Rav 4 at the Magnolia Apartments in Bensalem. Police spotted the vehicle near Street and Mechanicsville roads.
The driver of the Rav 4 rammed the side of a police van and fled that scene. When police followed in pursuit, the passenger bailed out of the vehicle and ran into a wooded area where he was apprehended. The driver was eventually apprehended.
A 9 mm semiautomatic handgun was recovered. It was reported stolen from a vehicle of a Bensalem resident on Nov. 27.
Daniel Rosa, 15, and Tharyn Battis Jr., 18, were arrested and charged with robbery, robbery of a motor vehicle, and several theft and firearms offenses. Rosa was charged as an adult. Police say he drove the stolen Toyota. His bail has been set at 10% of $5 million. Bail for Battis has been set at 10% of $3 million.