Two 8th Police District officers were hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries after a Jeep rammed their patrol car while they chased another Jeep that had been reported stolen.
The pursuit began at about 1:45 p.m. on April 18 at Frankford Avenue and Ashburner Street and ended minutes later when officers captured two suspects in the woods near Holme Avenue and Arthur Street. Justin Brown, 35, of the 2100 block of Grant Ave., and a 17-year-old male whose name was not released were charged with aggravated assault and related offenses.
The uniformed officers were traveling northbound on Frankford Avenue when they spotted a black Jeep Wrangler facing westbound on Ashburner and stopped at a red light. The Jeep matched the description of a vehicle that had been reported stolen from outside a home on the 10000 block of Waldemire Drive earlier that day.
As the black Jeep turned southbound onto Frankford, the officers followed it and attempted to execute a car stop, police said. They activated their emergency lights and siren, causing a second, white Jeep to yield to the shoulder. But the black Jeep did not stop, police said.
After a few blocks, the black Jeep turned right onto Welsh Road and the officers attempted to follow, but the trailing white Jeep struck the passenger side of the police car, rendering it inoperable. The white Jeep then was driven away eastbound on Welsh Road, following the black Jeep, police said.
The officers described the operators of both Jeeps to police radio as white males.
Alerted to the incident by police radio, officers assigned to the major crime auto squad were near Holme and Arthur when they spotted two white males walking in a wooded area. They detained the suspects until the injured officers arrived and identified both as the operators of the two Jeeps.
Brown allegedly drove the white Jeep, while the 17-year-old drove the black one.
The two 8th district officers were treated at Aria Health-Torresdale for undisclosed injuries and released that day. ••
