3 teenagers accused of carjacking, ramming police vehicle and firing shot at officers during police chase in Philadelphia
What started as a carjacking at a Northeast Philadelphia gas station turned into a wild chain of events involving teenage suspects, a police car rammed and a shot fired at officers in Fairmount Park.
Police say it started when a 66-year-old man was pumping gas just after 11 p.m. on Wednesday at the Sunoco on Cottman Avenue and Roosevelt Boulevard.
Three teenagers then hopped out of a car, held the victim at gunpoint and stole his Nissan Rogue SUV.
According to police, a family member tracked the victim's phone, which was left inside the vehicle. That helped officers locate the stolen SUV about 20 minutes later.
Police say they chased the SUV for one mile to Belmont and Girard avenues when the teen who was driving rammed one of the police vehicles and kept going.
The chase continued a few more blocks to MLK and Montgomery drives along the Schuylkill River.
Police say the three teenagers then jumped out of the vehicle and started running, with one of them firing a shot at officers.
No one was struck, and officers did not return fire.
Police ran after them and captured all three teens in the woods and on nearby train tracks.
"Officers showed a lot of restraint because they did not fire a shot. They continued to chase this individual, knowing he was armed with a gun, knowing he just fired a shot," said Chief Inspector Scott Small.
Action News was on the scene as police towed the victim's damaged vehicle. It had a flat front tire and the passenger side was scraped.
"This was a very, very dangerous situation. In addition to the ramming, you have an individual with a gun who fired a shot after committing an armed carjacking," Small said.
Police say they arrested two 17-year-olds and one 16-year-old. They believe the 16-year-old is the one who fired the shot.
The man who was carjacked was not injured.
Police are still investigating the incident.
