2 in custody after police chase on I-95 ends in crashes
SOUTH PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A police chase that started on Interstate-95 in Delaware County ended in South Philadelphia when a Hummer crashed onto railroad tracks.
Chester police said John Lettieri and Kelsey Geisenhoffer were spotted in a stolen Hummer with New York tags, heading north on I-95, when an officer tried to pull them over for a traffic stop.
That's when Lettieri allegedly began driving erratically, barreling toward Philadelphia on the interstate, weaving in and out of traffic and ultimately causing a state trooper to crash.
"My life was in danger," said Lettieri. "Come see me at the courthouse. I'll give you a statement, I'll tell you the truth."
Once inside city limits, Police said Lettieri and Geisenhoffer sped down South Columbus Boulevard but got stuck on the CSX Railroad tracks. That's when police say the pair bailed out of the SUV and began running toward a nearby strip mall.
"We saw the cops coming in with trucks, like SWAT trucks, large vans" said witness Joe Roccuzza. "And then as soon as we pulled up in there, I knew something was up."
Police said Geisenhoffer was taken into custody by Best Buy, but Lettieri ran inside a Pier 1 imports and started throwing merchandise into the aisles to avoid getting caught.
Sources confirm to Action News that no customers were in the store at the time.
Fortunately no one was seriously injured during their dangerous joy ride from Delaware County into South Philadelphia. There were no shots fired, and police took the pair into custody without incident.
Along with several traffic violations, and the stolen SUV, Police said they also discovered used and unused drug paraphernalia inside of the truck.
CSX said some damage was caused to their tracks when the SUV got stuck.
Both Lettieri and Geisenhoffer were taken to the Chester Courthouse for an arraignment.
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