At least three suspects in an armored car robbery are in custody after a chase through Philadelphia and Montgomery County led to lockdowns at several schools, including Saint Joseph’s University, police said.
A law enforcement source told NBC10 officers were getting coffee near City Avenue in the Philadelphia and Bala Cynwyd area late Friday morning when they spotted what they believed to be at least three men trying to break into an armored car. Lower Merion Police Superintendent Andy Block also told NBC10 that FBI agents were in the area searching for suspects in previous armored car robberies in Philly.
Officials said the armed suspects then fled police and FBI agents when they were spotted.
“These individuals fled from police on the city side,” Superintendent Block told NBC10. “They notified us for assistance.”
Both Philadelphia Police and Lower Merion Police pursued the suspects who led them on a chase along City Avenue from Philly through Montgomery County. Block told NBC10 one of the suspects was located on Snowden Road in Bala Cynwyd but fled the area.
SkyForce10 was over the scene as armed officers on foot searched through homes in Lower Merion. A shelter-in-place order went into effect in Lower Merion schools as well as the Bala Cynwyd community.
“Scary,” one resident told NBC10. “I’m going in my house and I’m going to lock my door.”
It forced the mail carrier to ditch her truck and evacuate the scene.
“I’m not going to do my route, yeah I’m just going to go back to the office,” she told NBC10.
Surveillance video shows one guy looking around a backyard, before hopping a fence. Officers say they caught one of the suspects on Colwyn Lane, bringing that neighbor face to face with a wanted man.
“You could tell he was tense, but he tried to keep cool. He started walking towards the street. Once he thought he was out of sight, he started sprinting towards that house,’ the neighbor Eli Starkman said.
The chase also prompted a shelter-in-place order at Saint Joseph’s University’s Hawk Hill campus on 5600 City Avenue. Students received an alert telling them to shelter in place immediately, lock all doors and to not leave their location until further notice.
Around noon, SkyForce10 captured a person being taken into custody by police on 52nd and Parrish streets in West Philadelphia.
Around 12:45 p.m., Superintendent Block told NBC10 two suspects in the robbery were arrested in Philadelphia while a third suspect was arrested in Lower Merion. Block also said police were searching homes near City Avenue for a possible fourth suspect. However, police later said they believe they have all suspects involved in custody.
Investigators believe these suspects are connected to armored truck robberies over the last few months in Philadelphia and surrounding areas.
The lockdowns were later lifted at Saint Joseph’s University as well as the Lower Merion schools.
Everything in the impacted neighborhoods appeared to go back to normal around 2 p.m. Friday.
This story is developing. Check back for updates.