What to Know
- A man who investigators call a dangerous career criminal led officers on a pursuit through Philadelphia and the suburbs Monday night.
- The pursuit ended in Northeast Philadelphia with officers tackling the man after he ran out of his car.
- The suspect was identified as 47-year-old Howard Seth Jacobson.
Philadelphia police tackled a serial burglary suspect to the ground and placed him in handcuffs following a wild, 90-minute chase through the city and suburbs Monday night.
Howard Seth Jacobson, 47, was wanted in connection to more than 15 commercial burglaries in Montgomery, Bucks and Philadelphia counties over the past few weeks and assault on police for previously ramming police vehicles, investigators said.
Police in Northeast Philadelphia spotted Jacobson in the car at some point Monday and broadcast the description over police radio.
Officers in neighboring Montgomery County then spotted the car and shared that info with Philadelphia police who launched their tactical chopper and began following the suspect around 9:30 p.m.
The miles-long pursuit continued through multiple neighborhoods, at points entering into neighboring Cheltenham and Abington townships.
SkyForce10 was over the scene as the suspect drove a white Honda Civic on Lincoln Drive and Carpenter Lane in Mount Airy. At one point, Jacobson, who was driving in excess of 60 mph, crashed into another vehicle near 3rd and Cambria streets but kept going, police said.
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
Shortly before 11 p.m., police were able to trap the car near an apartment complex on Rising Sun Avenue in the Fox Chase neighborhood. Jacobson then got out of the vehicle and ran away but was tackled to the ground and captured by police officers a couple of blocks away on Afton Street.
"He was trying to elude police, he kept shutting his lights off," Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said.
Jacobson may have family in the area where he ditched his car, Small said.
Police had been looking for Jacobson for the past several weeks in connection to the burglaries, Small said. Most of the break-ins occurred overnight with a window or glass door broken to gain entry into the business, according to investigators.
Jacobson also allegedly rammed a police vehicle on Sunday while getting away.
Small called Jacobson a dangerous career criminal.
Jacobson is being held in Montgomery County and will be arraigned by a judge.
