Group of car thieves hit Philadelphia police cruiser while getting away
A group of car thieves fleeing Philadelphia police struck one officer's vehicle while getting away, officials said Wednesday morning.
The incident unfolded in Northeast Philadelphia just after 2 a.m. It started at Frankford and Rowland avenues, where officers responded to a report of people breaking into cars.
When the officers arrived, the suspects tried to get away in three different vehicles. One of the vehicles struck the police cruiser as the group sped away, Chief Inspector Scott Small said.
Two of those cars were found a short time later at Holme Avenue and Ashton Road, unattended with the engines still running.
One of those cars, a Honda, was reported stolen Tuesday, Small said.
A red sedan that also fled the scene has not been found.
A Philadelphia police sergeant was sitting inside the cruiser that was struck, but he was not injured, Small said.
"The sergeant is very, very lucky because he was struck while these vehicles were fleeing this scene at a high rate of speed," Small said.
Police will be looking at surveillance video and swabbing the unattended vehicles for fingerprints to try to identify the suspects.
"It's going to be checked for prints, and when our detectives process the scene, have these vehicles towed to our police garage," Small said. "Then we'll check for fingerprints, DNA, and other evidence, where hopefully we can identify who was in these vehicles."
The late-night theft ring unfolded even while police were nearby, showing a nagging problem for the city.
A few hundred cars are stolen each and every week, according to police data. About a month ago, thieves were hitting Hondas, stealing expensive rims and tires.
Overall, the number of cars stolen has fallen sharply in recent years.
In 2023, it was bad news. Figures skyrocketed, with more than 21,600 stolen cars. That was 400 cases a week. Thieves back then were taking advantage of a vulnerable ignition design on Kias and Hyundais.
The numbers were nearly cut in half in 2024. There were 16,000 in 2025.
To date in 2026, there are just over 10,000, a 10% decrease compared to this time last year.
