A man is in custody after crashing a car in Fairmount Park and then attacking motorists trying to help him, police say
The motorists tried to help the man, who appeared to be under the influence, at Lansdowne and Sweetbriar Drives, police said.
A man was in police custody Tuesday after he allegedly crashed a car in Fairmount Park and then attacked motorists who tried to help him and stole one of their cars.
Around 11:15 a.m., a motorist saw the man standing next to a Toyota sedan that had crashed into a tree and was engulfed in flames at Sweetbriar and Lansdowne Drives, police said.
When the motorist approached to offer assistance, the man, who appeared to be under the influence of an unknown substance, attempted to physically assault the motorist, police said. The motorist was able to safely retreat to his own vehicle.
A second motorist attempted to assist the man, who then assaulted that motorist, police said. The first motorist intervened with pepper spray, but the man then stole the second motorist’s BMW 530i and fled the scene, police said.
A couple minutes later, the man returned in the stolen BMW and attempted to run over both motorists before crashing the car into a ravine, police said. The man returned to the Toyota, which was still on fire.
Firefighters arrived to extinguish the fire, and the man attacked them with fallen tree branches, police said.
Police officers arrived and “deployed an electronic control weapon,” and took the man into custody, police said.
The man was transported to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center for treatment, police said.
Police provided no other details about the man or what criminal charges he might be facing.
The Philadelphia Fire Marshal’s Office determined that the fire was caused by the Toyota crashing into the tree, police said.
The police investigation of the incident was ongoing.