A New York man wanted in the robbery and hit-and-run of an elderly woman was arrested early Tuesday in Tinicum Township.
The U.S. Marshals Service announced that their Eastern Pennsylvania Violent Crimes Fugitive Task Force arrested Joseph Hess,32, at the Quality Inn.
Joseph Hess is arrested Tuesday. (COURTESY OF U.S. MARSHALS)
Marshals said they developed information Hess may be hiding at that location. He was apprehended without incident and transported to the Tinicum Township Police Department on charges of assault and robbery from New York.
Hess was then remanded to the George W. Hill Correctional Facility where he awaits extradition to New York.
The marshals credited cooperation among several agencies, including task forces in Philadelphia; and Albany and Utica, New York; the New York State Police, Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office and the Colonie Police Department.
“Thanks to the coordinated efforts between multiple law enforcement agencies in New York and Pennsylvania, we were able to locate and apprehend Joseph Hess quickly and without incident,” said Robert Clark, supervisory deputy for the Eastern Pennsylvania Violent Crime Fugitive Task Force.
Joseph Hess is arrested Tuesday at the Quality Inn in Essington. (COURTESY U.S. MARSHALS)
The Eastern Pennsylvania task force is a team of law enforcement officers led by the Marshals Office in Philadelphia and the surrounding counties. The task force’s objective is to seek out and arrest violent crime fugitives.
Membership agencies include the Philadelphia Police Department, Pennsylvania State Parole Officers, Pennsylvania State Police, Pennsylvania Attorney General agents, Immigration Customs Enforcement, Chester Police Department, Bucks County Sheriffs and Delaware County Sheriffs.
According to news media in New York:
Just before 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Hess allegedly stole a pocketbook from a car in a McDonald’s parking lot in Ballston, N.Y.
When a 76-year-old woman attempted to confront him, the suspect put his own car in reverse and hit the victim before leaving the scene, authorities said.
She suffered a broken leg. His vehicle was later found abandoned just down the street from the McDonald’s, and Hess was reportedly seen running into the woods.
On Saturday night, Saratoga County deputies responded to a tip that Hess was at the Econo Lodge Inn & Suites in Colonie, nearly 25 miles from the initial crime scene. However, Hess was not found at the hotel.
The task force then found him early Tuesday.
Originally Published: October 21, 2025 at 12:07 PM EDT