The holidays turned out to be not so happy for some West Philly residents and guests. We received two reports of robberies, including an armed robbery, in the area over the past six days. We’ll start with the more recent one.

A 25-year-old man was robbed and pistol-whipped on Sunday, Dec. 27 on the 4500 block of Spruce Street. The victim told police that he was walking home shortly after 9 p.m. when he was approached from behind by two males, one of whom placed him in a choke hold and forced him to the ground, while the other male hit him in the head with a handgun.

The male with a handgun then took an iPhone from the victim’s pocket and both males ran toward 46th Street, got on bicycles and fled westbound, according to police. The victim’s phone was tracked to the area of May Street and Haverford Avenue before it was powered off. The firearm’s magazine, which fell during the robbery, was turned over to police by the victim. It was determined that the magazine belongs to a BB gun. The suspects are described as black males, 25-30 years old, medium build, about 5’9″-6’0″ tall. One suspect was wearing a grey hoody and light colored pants. The second suspect was wearing a black hoody and dark colored pants and was armed with a black BB gun.

A 14-year-old Spruce Hill resident was robbed by four males near 46th and Osage on Tuesday, Dec. 22 at approximately 7:20 p.m., according to a police report. A rental vehicle, a 2016 Hyundai Santa Fe with an Indiana license tag, was also stolen from the 4700 block of Osage Avenue by the same males, police said. Police say that the 14-year-old boy and another boy, a 15-year-old Indiana resident, were walking in the area when they observed the males, described as teenagers, approximately 17-18 years old, who started shouting at them to run.

The boys left and soon after that the 14-year-old boy returned to pick up his belongings from inside the SUV parked on the 4700 block of Osage. When he was walking away from the car, he was approached by the four males, who put him in a choke hold and took his cell phone, Nintendo 3DS, headphones and keys to the vehicle, according to the report. The boy fled and called the police. When police arrived they observed that the SUV had been taken.

UPDATE (12/29/2015): Police say they recovered the stolen vehicle near 54th and Market Streets on Dec. 26. One person was arrested and charged with car theft. More charges may be coming. There has been no word about the other three suspects.