A stolen car with two armed teenagers inside crashed into several parked cars near 48th and Springfield overnight, according to reports. Police say the teens stole the car in South Philadelphia shortly after midnight and drove around in it for a while before they slammed into cars parked along the 4800 block of Springfield Avenue. Police spotted the car earlier in Southwest Philly but decided not to pursue it because they deemed it too dangerous.
“We believe these kids probably don’t have a license to drive,” Lt. John Walker of the Southwest Detectives Division told NBC News.
After running into the parked cars, the teens fled on foot. One of them reportedly has a head injury. No one else was hurt, according to police. Police found two guns in the stolen vehicle.
July 26th, 2016 at 1:56 pm
So the police don’t pursue because it’s “deemed too dangerous.” For whom? For the police? For the teen delinquents who are running around at midnight with a stolen car? For pedestrians in danger of being run over? Certainly not better for Philadelphia residents who discover the police waited until the budding lifers crashed into cars. Surprise – two guns in the car! Of course the police couldn’t have known that. That’s why police pursue criminals.
July 26th, 2016 at 2:36 pm
This is what happens when funding for summer jobs is eliminated.
July 26th, 2016 at 2:55 pm
I’m not sure I follow. Are you suggesting that children under 16 formerly had summer jobs due to government funding? What types of jobs would they be? Janitorial?
The fact of the matter is that crime in general is down. Since you’re so dead set on blaming someone, how about the parents? What’s a child doing after midnight running around stealing a car?
July 26th, 2016 at 4:27 pm
Srsly, enough with the guilt. It’s not the governments fault that these kids stole a car and crashed it. Everyone knows it’s the teachers fault…
Parents. The buck stops there.
July 26th, 2016 at 7:37 pm
WP, High speed police chases can cause serious and fatal accidents. To protect innocent citizens, unless they are pursuing dangerous criminals, they often opt for good judgement over hot pursuit.
Our police have another high-speed method of catching criminals. It’s called a police radio.
July 29th, 2016 at 6:10 pm
@ Michael – Police radio? – Didn’t work too well this time. So next time someone sees lights behind them just put the pedal to the metal and the police won’t pursue because they will exercise good judgment.
July 30th, 2016 at 11:09 pm
No innocent bystanders were involved in a fatal accident.
Guns were recovered.
Police have descriptions of the kids.
Call that a fail if you want.
I’d say it was a good end to a bad situation.
You would do well to learn statistics.
Not every flip of a coin is a heads.
August 2nd, 2016 at 1:42 pm
@ Michael – Oh good. Police have descriptions (that fit how many people according to your statistics?). BTW, I work in criminal justice. So you can keep your statistics.
August 16th, 2016 at 10:50 am
Crime can happen anywhere in the city. My point is, I don’t care if you drive a VW Westfalia, an Audi Quatro, a Sporty Mazda, a Nissan, a Honda Fit or even a Jeep!, you need to use an external fail safe device like a ‘Club’ or a car alarm as an extra mode of protection from roving bands of teens!