2 charged in alleged Northeast Philadelphia chop shop bust

NORTHEAST PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Philadelphia caught alleged motorcycle thieves in the act Monday morning and discovered their alleged chop shop.

Detectives says they found stolen high performance Suzuki and Triumph motorcycles covered outside of 4225 Mill Street.

Inside the home and on the front porch, police say they found more motorcycles and all kinds of parts.

Police say Leonard Harris and Walter Jacobs tried to steal David Vocht's gleaming yellow motorcycle around 4:00 a.m. Monday on the 3200 block of Cottman Avenue.

Vocht was asleep, but two cleaners for a neighboring bar saw the alleged theft in motion and called police.

"How I got my clutch set up, they couldn't get it started cause the clutch doesn't pull in all the way," Vocht said.

"They had a dark colored Suburban that had been used in previous thefts across the city," Sgt. Dan Buckley of the Philadelphia Police Department said.

Earlier this month, police released surveillance from an attempted motorcycle theft on June 4th on the 800 block of North 28th Street hoping to get leads.

Police say Jacobs and Harris are the men in the video.

Another man who hasn't been apprehended kept a lookout.

They were unable to cut the lock and eventually ran away.

But police say the Suburban in the video is the same used in Monday morning's alleged theft.

"We have a lot of leg work to continue with this investigation. There will be multiple charges. We expect additional people to be charged, but we are still early in the investigation," Buckley said.

Jacobs and Harris are charged with Monday's attempted theft.

Police continue to interview the two men and search for the lookout.