Armed Teenage Boy Arrested After Carjacking, Kidnapping Family Delivering Food In North Philadelphia: Police
By Ross DiMattei
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PHILADELPHIA (KYW) — A carjacking turned into a kidnapping in North Philadelphia on Tuesday night. Police say a family of five was terrorized by an armed teenager while making food deliveries.
Officials say the father may have been set up. Police say he was called to an address in North Philadelphia for a pizza delivery, but when he got out, he realized there was no delivery and someone was driving off in his minivan with his girlfriend and three young kids still inside.
The incident started a little after 11 p.m. on the 2700 block of Warnock Street in North Philadelphia.
Police say a father brought his family with him to work, but when he got out of his minivan to deliver a pizza, he quickly realized he was being carjacked.
Police say a teenager took off in the van with his girlfriend and three young kids still inside.
Officers say the girlfriend put up a fight, punching the teen and eventually jumping out of the vehicle, but she injured her foot in the process.
About a block away, officers believe the carjacker let one of the three kids, an 8-year-old boy, out of the vehicle. But the 6-year-old girl and 2-year-old boy were still sleeping in the backseat.
Officers say the father may have saved their lives by notifying the police. It allowed them to provide a description of the stolen minivan to a police helicopter, so it could help crews on the ground track down the carjacker and make an arrest.
“They chased this individual about one block and they made an apprehension,” Chief Inspector Scott Small said. “And when they apprehended this male, he turned out he was 17 years of age and they also recovered a semi-automatic gun from this individual.”
The 17-year-old suspect is facing multiple charges, including carjacking and kidnapping.
All three children were found uninjured and are expected to be OK.
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