A series of violent armed robberies have been carried out in Philadelphia in a UHaul cargo van sparking an investigation by authorities.
These are consecutive events that occurred in the northeast of the city and the perpetrators could be adolescents.
The first incident occurred in the 1200 block of Academy Road. According to police, a woman was walking north when four teenagers dressed in black and masked approached her and robbed her at gunpoint. Once they seized the lady’s personal items, they forced her into the UHaul van.
There they allegedly physically assaulted her with punches to the face before letting her go and firing two shots, without hitting her, to scare her away.
The second holdup occurred at 5:00 am in the 6300 block of Roosevelt Boulevard. It appears that a man in a 2011 Mercedes Benz who was using a TD Bank ATM was blocked by the UHaul van. Two young people dismounted from it, they could be teenagers or around their 20s, they urged the cash that the individual was carrying at gunpoint.
When the victim could no longer get more money from the ATM, the attackers stole the vehicle and fled the place.
Another violent event occurred Wednesday in the 9200 block of Delaware Avenue. A man was walking when he was approached by the UHaul van and abducted to a convenience store in the 1000 block of FrankFord Avenue where he was required to withdraw money from the ATM, but the victim was unable to.
The attackers insisted so much that they made the victim call her mother who made a transfer through a bank application of $300. Then the thieves stole the affected person’s phone and fled the scene.
“The pattern of description and the way these individuals operate is similar,” said Police Inspector Matthew Gillespie. “We are alert because the area where the armed robberies have been perpetrated is geographically close. We need the public’s help in case they can recognize any of these suspects.”
Anyone with information about this or similar events can contact the Philadelphia Police at 911.
