Police Use Cellphone Left Inside Stolen Vehicle To Track Down Carjacking Suspects
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - An armed carjacking in Southwest Philadelphia came to a crashing end in Kensington overnight. Philadelphia police say they were able to track down the stolen pickup truck and arrest four suspects, thanks to a cellphone left inside the stolen vehicle.
It all started around 11:30 p.m. Monday on the 6400 block of Elmwood in Southwest Philadelphia. The 35-year-old victim was sitting in his Chevy Silverado truck, waiting for his wife, when a man held a gun to his head and stole his truck.
"A male actually approached him, point-of-gun, where the victim was in the passenger seat waiting for his wife and the engine was running," Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said. "That is when the suspect opened the driver door, put a gun to the victim's head and told him to get out of the vehicle."
Police say the victim's 11-year-old daughter had left her cellphone in the truck, so they were able to track it.
The truck was fleeing from police, when it crashed into a parked car on the 400 block of East Tioga in Kensington.
"The vehicle was being tracked in the area of Huntington and Lehigh and then 3400 Front Street," Small said. "So we had our helicopter, the aviation unit began to track the vehicle. Then officers saw the vehicle on the 400 block of East Tioga where it just got into an accident with a parked vehicle and four individuals fled from the vehicle."
Four suspects jumped out and police arrested them. They also recovered a loaded gun in the stolen truck.
The man's wife spoke exclusively to Eyewitness News.
"Honestly, I hope they throw the book at them," she said.
She was too afraid to show her face but she still wanted to send a message to the man who put a gun to her husband's head and ordered him out of their pickup truck.
"They have no remorse, they have no humanity left in them whatsoever," she said. "I really pretty much hope they rot in jail."
Police were not able to recover a car seat and school bags that belonged to the victim's children.
"They cleaned everything out of the vehicle," the woman said. "That ridiculous, it really is."
No one was injured in the crash.
CBS3's Matt Petrillo contributed to this report.
