Teen, officer and driver injured after police chase with carjacking suspects ends in crashes
Authorities say the Volvo was taken by two men in a gunpoint carjacking around 1:45 a.m. Sunday in the 6th District.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A teenager, a driver and an officer were injured after a police chase involving two carjacking suspects ended in multiple crashes Sunday in West Philadelphia.
Authorities say a white Volvo was carjacked at gunpoint by two men around 1:45 a.m. in the 6th district.
Police say officers spotted the Volvo shortly after 2 p.m. at 52nd and Market streets traveling at a high rate of speed through an intersection.
A chase ensued with the suspects, but it quickly came to a screeching halt when the Volvo slammed into a 16-year-old on a bicycle at 53rd and Thompson streets.
"I saw a young man just covered in blood being helped up by our neighbors. Our neighbors are very good on this block," said witness Joseph Distefano, who was inside his home at the time crash.
Neighbor Maurice Hall says he didn't see what happened but heard it and ran down the street to help his friend who was hit.
"He was like, 'I don't want to die.' I said, 'You're not going to die.' We picked him up, put him right there and put an umbrella over him to shade him," said Maurice Hall.
Hall said he waited with the 16-year-old for an ambulance.
"They took long as hell to get here, they took like 30 minutes. I stood with him here the whole time," said Hall.
Officials say the 16-year-old was taken to the hospital in critical but stable condition.
Surveillance video captured the two men exiting the Volvo and trying to flee the scene as multiple officers pull up behind it.
One of the suspects was arrested at the crash scene.
The second suspect took off running. An officer followed in his patrol car, but the officer crashed into another vehicle at 53rd and Master streets.
That crash was also captured on home surveillance video.
The second suspect was arrested and taken into custody.
The driver hit by the patrol car was taken to the hospital with a hip injury.
The police officer suffered non-life-threatening injuries, officials said.
Police told Action News they initiated this chase because they believed the suspects were armed. Investigators did recover a weapon after the pursuit.
