3 Teens Charged For Assaulting King Of Prussia Mall Employee, Crashing Stolen SUV Into SEPTA Bus, Police Say
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Three teenagers have been charged for beating a King of Prussia mall employee, stealing her vehicle and then crashing it into a SEPTA bus in the Mantua section of the city on Tuesday night, authorities say. Police say two of the teens, a 17-year-old boy and girl, will be charged as adults.
Court records identify the 17-year-old suspects as Ellijah Simmons and Nyshay Hanton, both of Philadelphia. A 14-year-old girl is being held in a Montgomery County facility and had her intake hearing on Wednesday morning.
Investigators say the teens asked a woman, who had just finished work and was walking to her vehicle, to use her phone. That's when the teens allegedly placed the woman in a chokehold, punched her and threw her to the ground.
"She put things in her car and moved around to the passenger side and was about to get into her vehicle, she was approached by three individuals who asked to use her cellphone," Upper Merion Police Chief Tom Nolan said.
Police say the three suspects fled in the woman's silver 2005 Toyota Highlander and then led authorities on a moderate-speed chase a dozen miles down the Schuylkill Expressway. During the chase, the teen driver slammed the SUV into the back of a SEPTA bus at 37th and Spring Garden Streets around 10 p.m.
SEPTA says five bus passengers and the driver suffered non-life-threatening injuries. The 17-year-old suspects required surgery and are still hospitalized. The 14-year-old girl was also injured in the crash.
"There was only a few passengers on the SEPTA bus. They have, at this point, minor injuries for anybody on the bus, but the driver of the vehicle, the male, did have substantial injuries and needed to be extricated by the Philadelphia Fire Department," Nolan said.
Ellijah and Nyshay were arraigned at a hospital bedside and charged with robbery of a vehicle and aggravated assault.
CBS3's Joe Holden contributed to this report.
