Upper Darby Police Investigating Carjacking Spree Targeting Women
UPPER DARBY, Pa. (CBS) -- As Upper Darby Township's Superintendent of Police puts it, a "gang" of armed teens went on a carjacking spree in the township earlier this month, terrorizing women who were exiting their cars, late at night.
Police showed CBS 3 the masks, and a modified rifle they allegedly used.
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"They steal two cars, they hit one woman over the head and then they put this long gun to the neck of another woman and pull the trigger," said Superintendent Michael Chitwood in an interview on Wednesday. "She collapses to the ground from fear she was going to get shot or was shot."
The string of armed robberies started Sunday, October 2. Detective say six teens pulled out guns and hit a woman over the head at the corner of Delco and Sunshine Roads. They then stole her Mercedes E-350.
About an hour and a half later, the destined "gang" struck again. This time, it was the 7400 block of Miller Avenue.
Police say they pulled the rifle on the victim and pulled the trigger. It didn't fire.
"These gangsters were looking to hurt somebody, and if you resist, you have a problem," Chitwood said.
On October 4, another car jacking is reported. Police say at 2 a.m., the teens took a woman's Subaru at Parkview and Oakley. Three days later, plainclothes officers encountered three of the teens and arrested them. Police say a 13-year-old from the Hunting Park section of Philadelphia was carrying the rifle in his pants.
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"I mean these guys ain't kids throwing eggs. These guys are hold-up men. At 13 you're a hold up man? A stick-up man? You're armed with a gun? At 13, give me a break," Chitwood said.
Police say they know all of the teens involved. They've gathered a batch of evidence, including cellphones, that places each of them at the scene. But officers contend the teens' parents are blocking police from conducting interviews. A parent or guardian must consent for a juvenile child to be questioned by police under Pennsylvania law. Chitwood says his department expects to make a case without statements or cooperation from the teenage suspects.
