PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — An investigation into a series of armored car robberies led to the arrest of three people on Friday afternoon in the Philadelphia area. The incident prompted a massive search, as well as lockdowns across Lower Merion Township schools.
Around 11 a.m., sources say two suspects were at the Target on City Line Avenue, gearing up to hit an armored truck in Cheltenham. When police went to pursue the group, they took off, and a chase ensued, stretching through Philadelphia and Montgomery County. Law enforcement from several police departments was on the scene.
Two men, one of whom was a getaway driver, were arrested at 52nd and Parrish streets.
In an attempt to locate the third suspect, Superintendent of Lower Merion Township Andy Block says police used emergency response teams, as well as K-9 units.
He was eventually arrested along Colwyn Lane, right by the Bala Cynwyd Station, after a nearby resident contacted police, saying a man was "crawling around in the hedge" of her yard while she was under a shelter-in-place.
A fourth person was taken into custody but has since been released. Police say that person was not involved.
Police say the getaway car — a white Honda — was dumped and later found at the end of Snowden Road by Conshohocken State Road in Bala Cynwyd. Guns were found inside the Honda.
Police also found a gun and clothing abandoned in the area.
Eight Lower Merion schools were under lockdown until about 2 p.m. Police urged parents not to go to school buildings to try to pick up their children.
Those schools included Belmont Hills Elementary, Cynwyd Elementary, Merion Elementary, Penn Valley Elementary, Penn Wynne Elementary, Bala Cynwyd Middle, Welsh Valley Middle, and Lower Merion High. Saint Joseph's University was also on lockdown.
Lower Merion Township police urged residents to shelter in place, but that order was lifted around noon.
Detectives are investigating.