U.D. police release photos of crime-spree suspects
UPPER DARBY » A pair of anonymous donors arrived at Upper Darby police headquarters this week with cash to “make whole” the two female visitors from Ecuador who were robbed and assaulted by two female “predators” at gunpoint, Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said Thursday.
Between the one benevolent donor who appeared on Wednesday and the other on Thursday, Chitwood said, “they more than doubled” the $900 stolen from the women, ages 86 and 52, as they walked out of a house in the first block of Kent Road on Friday, June 23.
Meanwhile, Chitwood released an image of one of two female suspects in the Kent Road and other robberies, as well as an image of a man suspected to be their driver. The images were captured on a business surveillance system just four minutes prior to the Kent Road holdup.
It was shortly before 10 a.m. June 23 when township police responded to Kent Road for a gunpoint robbery. Authorities say two black women exited a newer model, dark gray Hyundai Sonata and robbed the Ecuadorian women, who do not speak English.
According to Chitwood, the 86-year-old woman resisted and one of the suspects hit her on the arm with the gun. When the two suspects dropped their handbags to the ground, the robbers grabbed them and jumped into the back of a car. A total of $900 and two cell phones were taken.
One of the female suspects was described as heavyset, and wearing her hair in a bun high on top of her head. He described the female suspects as being in their late teens or early 20s.
“These are violent street thugs, regardless if they are women. That’s what they are,” the superintendent said, “They are violent predators looking for a score. It’s all about greed.”
Authorities believe the same two women robbed two cab drivers in Upper Darby just hours apart on June 19, in the same neighborhood as the attack on the women. The same women are also suspects in robberies of two Domino’s Pizza drivers in Philadelphia, their vehicles carjacked in both instances, Chitwood said. A gray Hyundai Sonata sedan was stolen from a Domino’s driver on June 21.
According to Chitwood, a Sonata believed to be the one used in the Kent Road incident was recovered June 24 in Philadelphia, where it was found crashed on North 62nd Street, unoccupied. He said cell phones and DNA evidence were recovered from the vehicle.
Now, the suspects may be driving a 2002 silver, fourdoor Volvo S60 – stolen from the Domino’s driver in Philadelphia on June 26, Chitwood said. In this case, according to authorities, the robbery was committed by one black female and two black males.
Video images of the suspects were obtained by Upper Darby detectives who canvassed the area for information following the robbery of the Ecuadorians.
“Our detectives did a great job … we are hoping someone can help us to identify them,” Chitwood said.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Upper Darby police at 610-7347693.