Officials are investigating after arresting a teen resident as well as a second teen who allegedly carjacked two people and crashed into a police car during a 24-hour crime spree.
Tharyn Battis Jr., 18, and Daniel Rosa, 15, of Bensalem, Pennsylvania, are both charged as adults with robbery, robbery of a motor vehicle, persons not to possess a firearm, theft, receiving stolen property and other related offenses.
The ordeal began on Monday, Dec. 2, at 4:15 a.m. in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. A woman arrived at her home on Oak Court to park her Honda Pilot when she spotted five to seven people huddled in the parking lot. Investigators said the woman remained in her vehicle, hoping the group would leave.
A short time later, a masked gunman tapped on the window of her SUV with a gun and ordered her to get out, police said. He then pointed the gun at the woman’s face and told her to give him her phone and walk away. He then entered the woman’s vehicle and sped away from the scene with another passenger.
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“They came up to the car and they banged on the window with a gun, pulled me out. They held the gun against my head,” the woman told NBC10. “I didn’t know they were young. I didn’t know if they were older.”
The next morning, on Tuesday, Dec. 3, at 5 a.m., police responded to Magnolia Court in Bensalem for the report of a vehicle theft in progress. When they arrived, they discovered a Toyota Rav 4 had already been stolen. Police discovered the vehicle was traveling west on Street Road. When they attempted to stop it at the intersection of Street and Mechanicsville roads, the driver crashed into the side of a police van and fled, investigators said.
As police pursued the vehicle, the passenger – later identified as Battis Jr. – bailed out of the SUV near Byberry and Knights roads and ran into a wooded area, according to investigators. Battis allegedly reached towards his waistband while running away. The officers eventually took him into custody at gunpoint.
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Police also found a handgun, Battis’ cellphone, a vape pen and a pocketknife in the wooded area where he was taken into custody, investigators said.
Police also recovered the unoccupied Rav 4 a short time later on the 300 block of Penguin Drive. Investigators said the handgun was registered to a Bensalem resident and was reported stolen from a vehicle on Thanksgiving Eve.
Investigators identified Rosa as the driver of the Rav 4. Police also determined Battis and Rosa committed the carjacking on Dec. 2.
Battis was arraigned on Tuesday and remanded to the Bucks County Correctional Facility on 10% of $3 million bail. Rosa was arrested at his home, arraigned and remanded to the Bucks County Youth Center (Edison) on 10% of $5 million bail.
Investigators said Battis is a resident of the St. Francis - St. Vincent Homes for Children on Bristol Pike in Bensalem. The group home houses troubled youth who committed crimes in Philadelphia and are court-ordered to live at the facility.
Bensalem Police said they’ve had multiple “criminal contacts” with residents of the home and found that staff members had little or no control over them. Several residents of the group home simultaneously went AWOL at 2:59 a.m. on Monday, shortly before the carjacking, but only Battis was reported missing, according to investigators.
“We were told by the suspect, when he confessed to the carjacking and vehicle theft, that six individuals walked away that night,” Bensalem Township Public Safety Director William McVey told NBC10. “So, if he’s admitting to pointing a gun at someone, I don’t know why he would lie about how many people walked away.”
Investigators told NBC10 that in the past two months they’ve seen more than 50 reports of thefts from cars and stolen vehicles near the St. Francis - St. Vincent homes.
NBC10 reached out to the home for comment. We were referred to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. A spokesperson for the Archdiocese did not answer our questions in regards to police stating there was an increase in thefts near the home or allegations that residents walked away unsupervised. The spokesperson said that to the best of their knowledge, only one individual was found to be absent from campus without permission during the early morning hours of Tuesday, Dec. 3.
If you have any information on the recent vehicle thefts, please contact Bensalem Police.
