UPDATED: 7:33 p.m.
TRAPPE, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Authorities have charged the man they think is responsible for a "drug-fueled crime spree," after a woman was struck and killed with a stolen car in the Graduate Hospital neighborhood during a bizarre series of hit-and-runs early Wednesday morning, stretching from Center City Philadelphia to western Montgomery County.
Kareem Welton, 40, faces charges of attempted murder and aggravated assault in Montgomery County. Police said he was involved in three other hit-and-runs that left several people hurt.
Cops say they took Welton into custody in the borough of Trappe, Montgomery County, after he hit a man jogging along Main Street in Collegeville.
Around 6 a.m., the jogger stepped off the sidewalk to let another pedestrian pass, just as Welton allegedly crossed over into oncoming traffic and hit him. Police say he was driving about 20 miles over the posted speed limit.
The jogger was alert when police arrived on scene, though he had suffered a broken spine and fractures to his ribs and one of his legs, according to the criminal complaint.
“This defendant was not only driving recklessly and at a high rate of speed, but he intentionally targeted the runner and hit him, attempting to kill him,” said Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele in a statement.
“The intention to kill and seriously injure people can be seen in the defendant’s actions throughout the night.”
Cops believe Welton later ditched the car at a gas station in Trappe before getting on a bicycle. At some point, police caught up to him on the bike and arrested him. Hours later the car was found, still running, with the radio on.
Welton was impaired by psychedelic drugs and marijuana, based on a test a trooper administered to him, according to the criminal complaint.
Police say the series of events started in Center City a little after 2 a.m. Authorities say the driver struck and killed a 32-year-old woman at 15th and South streets. She had just finished up her shift working at a nearby restaurant, and was with a co-worker who was walking his bicycle.
Suddenly, police say, a Chevy Malibu jumped the curb and hit the woman. Her co-worker was able to jump out of the way.
The driver then made a U-turn, said Philadelphia Police Department Chief Inspector Scott Small, "and then continues to come back north on that same sidewalk, where [the victim] is lying. Strikes her again. Actually runs her over, literally."
The woman was rushed to the hospital where she soon died.
Police said the driver abandoned the car at Broad and South streets, where surveillance cameras captured the moments he fled.
Minutes before hitting the woman at 15th and South, investigators said the driver had rear-ended a motorcycle at Broad and Lombard streets. The man operating the motorcycle was not injured, but his 28-year-old passenger had some bumps and bruises and was taken to the hospital for treatment.
Within a few hours of the fatal hit and run, police say he stole another car and hit another person in Manayunk. That person survived, as well.
And then the suspect went all the way to Collegeville.
Investigators continue to look into the series of incidents in both Montgomery County and Philadelphia.