A New Jersey robbery suspect was pulled from underneath a pickup truck and captured following a chase in Philadelphia Monday night.
The man was one of four robbers accused of stealing $40,000 in merchandise from a Verizon phone store on Rt. 73 in Voorhees, New Jersey, earlier that evening. Police said the men entered the store and shoved the employees into a backroom. At least two of the men were armed with guns.
"And they duct taped them to metal chairs," Voorhees Police Detective Chris Tomasco said. "And as they did that they had a safe opened. And as the safe was opened they gathered all the merchandise that was in the safe. No cash but it was all merchandise."
The men were dressed in dark clothing.
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"Hoodies were up over their head and they had gaiters or masks up over their nose," Tomasco said. "So you only could see their eyes."
As Voorhees Police responded to the scene, their dispatch received a call from a company employed by Verizon. The company told police they were tracking a stolen decoy phone.
"It's kind of like a tracker inside a money bundle if someone robs a bank," Tomasco said.
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The tracker gave police exact coordinates of the robbers as they drove across the bridge into Pennsylvania.
"They were tracking it in live time," Tomasco said. "And as they were tracking it they actually called and got ahold of the Philadelphia Police Department."
Philadelphia Police first spotted the suspects along Cottman Avenue and Leon Street later that night. The suspects fled police, according to investigators, leading to a chase that ended on 5th and Spring Garden streets in Northern Liberties where three of the four men were captured.
SkyForce10 was over the scene as police pulled one of the suspects from underneath a parked pickup truck.
Tomasco said the suspects are part of a known burglary ring that has targeted stores across the region.
"They hit in Deptford. Pennsville. And I believe they hit a store on South Street in Philadelphia," Tomasco said.
As investigators in South Jersey continue to work with Philadelphia Police to track the fourth and final suspect, Tomasco has a warning for shoppers this holiday season.
"Be aware of your surroundings," Tomasco said. "Always be aware of your surroundings. Get your head out of your phone."
