Couple Could Face Charges In 'Street Justice' Death Of Carjacking Suspect Who Stole Vehicle With 3 Children Inside
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A mother and father may be charged after a carjacking in North Philadelphia. Police say the couple and a group of people beat the alleged suspect so badly on Thursday night that he later died in what people from the neighborhood called "street justice."
The victim has been identified as 54-year-old Erik Hood. Police say Hood had at least 30 prior arrests with many of them narcotics related.
The talk of North 29th Street on Friday afternoon is how a man died after police say he stole a woman's car with her three children inside. It happened around 9 p.m. Thursday outside New Star Pizza.
After the carjacking, her boyfriend chased the man down and pulled him out of the car.
"I'd probably have a case, man, and that's being real," said Rick Glover, who lives nearby. "I'd probably have a case."
Police say the sense of so-called "street justice," however, is a problem.
"I'm not a fan of street justice. I think everything should play out through us as it comes to criminal actions," Philadelphia Police Capt. Jason Smith said.
After the children's father got Hood out of the car, others in the neighborhood joined in and started beating and kicking Hood. He later died in the hospital.
"What happened was tragic but it's understandable. The way the streets are today you can understand why someone would want to chase down someone who was trying to hurt their kids," Kabreeze Sheed said. "Child could get kidnapped, taken away, never seen again, held for ransom, you never know."
The medical examiner's office will determine how Hood died.
"At the end of the day, he got what was coming to him. I just wish it wasn't so brutal," Sheed said.
Police say the assault was captured by a nearby surveillance camera.
The parents haven't been identified. Police want to talk to the other people who were involved. If you know who they are, police ask you to call 911.
CBS3's Howard Monroe reports.
