Vehicle stolen with toddler inside in yet another Philly carjacking
The vehicle was soon spotted by Highway Patrol officers on the 500 block of Somerville Avenue, where it had crashed, and a woman was taken into custody, police said.
Philadelphia’s carjacking epidemic continued Saturday, this time involving a vehicle stolen with a 1-year-old boy in the backseat, police said.
According to police, officers received a call at 12:16 a.m. for an abduction in progress at Fifth and Olney Streets in North Philadelphia. At the scene, they were told by a woman that an unknown person had just taken her vehicle with her toddler son in a child safety seat in the back.
About 15 minutes later, the vehicle passed police and the child’s mother on North Fifth Street. Highway Patrol officers caught up with it at Fifth Street and Somerville Avenue, where it had crashed. Police said they saw a woman wearing a pink hat and a green jacket run into a house on the 500 block of Somerville.
» READ MORE: Carjackings spike dramatically in Philly, breaking records this year
She was taken into custody without incident, said police, who did not release her identity. Both she and the child were checked out by paramedics. No injuries were reported.
Last month, The Inquirer reported there were 59 carjackings in Philadelphia in January, up from 18 for the same month last year and part of a disturbing trend. There were 404 carjackings in 2020, up from 225 in 2019 and 230 in 2018, according to the Police Department.