Group seen on video jumping from van, stealing car at gunpoint in Germantown
Surveillance video shows four armed men jump out of a white van that was parked at the pumps.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A brazen carjacking was caught on surveillance camera at a Sunoco gas station on Wissahickon Ave. in the Germantown section of Philadelphia over the weekend.
Surveillance video shows four armed men jump out of a white van that was parked at the pumps around 10 p.m. Saturday.
They were holding handguns and rifles and pointed them at a man who was trying to get into his car that was parked behind the van.
One of the men was even seen jumping on the roof of the car while pointing a gun at the driver.
"It looks like something out of a movie, because of that guy jumping on the car," said Antonius Mikuriya, who was getting gas there on Monday. "It's very surreal."
The men chase the driver into the gas station where he ran for help. The men can be seen pointing their guns inside as customers run for cover.
"I'm always careful but I also know that you can't expect things like that," said Laura Ward, who lives nearby and stopped at the gas station on Monday. "How can you prepare for something like that? You can't."
While the video is stunning, police believe there may be more to it. Investigators are looking to see if the four armed men may have known the man who owned the car, and may have specifically targeted him or his car.
Police are dealing with a large increase in carjackings throughout Philadelphia. There have been more than 1,000 so far in 2022, twice the number from last year.
"It's not getting any better. It's getting worse," said Tom Will of Mt. Laurel.
The problem is getting the attention of federal authorities and the District Attorney's office.
"It's one of the worst crises that we face right now," said District Attorney Larry Krasner during a news conference on Monday.
No one was injured during the crime.
