Suspected carjacker in custody after car crash, fire in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park, police say
A suspected carjacker is in custody after a wild chain of events happened in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park Tuesday morning, according to police.
Chopper 3 was over the area near Sweetbriar and Lansdowne drives where Philadelphia police say the suspect crashed his Toyota sedan into a tree, which then burst into flames.
A nearby man saw the suspect, who police say appeared to be under the influence, and went over to help him at around 11:15 a.m. But the suspect got angry, tried assaulting the man and ultimately chased him away.
The man got back in his car and moved a little ways away from the suspect before seeing another person try and help the suspect. The suspect began assaulting the second person, leading the original man to jump in and spray pepper spray at the suspect.
Police say the suspect then carjacked the second person's silver BMW 530i and drove away before returning minutes later to try and run both people over. Fortunately, the suspect wasn't successful in his efforts. He did however end up crashing the BMW into a ravine.
The suspect went back to where his Toyota sedan was still on fire and found firefighters trying to extinguish the blaze. The suspect attacked the firefighters by swinging fallen tree branches at them, according to police.
Authorities said officers arrived, tased the suspect and were able to detain him.
Police said the suspect was taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center for his injuries.
The fire marshal said the blaze was caused by the Toyota sedan crashing into the tree.