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Body cam video shows moment police arrive to unauthorized car rally at Willow Grove Park Mall

Body cam video shows moment police arrive to unauthorized car rally in Montgomery County
Body cam video shows moment police arrive to unauthorized car rally in Montgomery County 01:37

ABINGTON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (CBS) - A fiery car crash in Montgomery County injured three people. Police say it happened after an unsanctioned car rally.

It was a chaotic weekend in Abington Township. Police say nearly 200 cars zoomed first through the parking lot of a mall and then into a nearby neighborhood.

Body camera footage shows the moment when Abington Township Police officers arrived at Willow Grove Park Mall to break up the unauthorized car rally event Saturday night.

From the mall, a driver, that police believe is connected to the rally, took off to the 2900 block of Old Welsh Road.

The car crashed so hard into two neighbors' cars that the backseat passenger was ejected and the driver and other passenger were trapped inside.

The impact nearly bent the car in half and crushed one side of Abington Township Resident Joe Thomas' minivan.

"My wife and I got home about midnight, and then about 12:30 we were getting ready for bed for church," Thomas said. "I heard a 'boom!' and then a silence and then another bang and more noise. So I ran around, got dressed. My wife came out and said, 'oh, the van got hit.'" 

Police say all three of the people are now recovering at Jefferson Abington Hospital.

That driver will face charges.

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