Cops: Robbers used tire iron to beat victim

A robbery victim remains in critical condition at Hahnemann University Hospital after being beaten in the head with a tire iron in North Philadelphia early this morning, according to police.

The 21-year-old man was walking on North 12th Street near Poplar around 1:11 a.m. when he was hit in the back of the head with a tire iron by one of two men who stole his backpack, police said. Cops rolled up on the scene and saw the beating and the victim bleeding from the head, police said.

The two robbers fled on foot and three other men, who were waiting for them nearby in a green Mercury Mountaineer, sped away as well. Cops pulled over the car on Pennsylvania Avenue near Fairmount and the three occupants jumped out and ran away. Two of those men were captured a short time later hiding in bushes and the victim's backpack was recovered from the abandoned car, police said.

Authorities have not yet released the names of the two men who were arrested and the other three suspects remain on the lam.