Cops search for driver of stolen car crashed after chase
Police say vehicle was stolen at knifepoint in Bridgeport
A brief car chase on Route 100 ended in a crash Aug. 20 and the driver, who is suspected of stealing the vehicle, escaped a police dragnet.
Upper Pottsgrove police Chief Francis Wheatley told Digital First Media that a car reported as stolen by force in Bridgeport was spotted about 5 p.m. traveling south on Route 100 at Moyer Road.
Police turned on their lights and attempted to pull over the grey Suzuki Aerio, but it sped away.
“We engaged in a pursuit, but I called it off pretty quickly because of the time of day,” Wheatley said, citing concern for the safety of the high number of commuters who would be on Route 100 at 5 p.m.
“But as the officer approached the Farmington Avenue exit, he figured that maybe the suspect had pulled off,” Wheatley said. “And sure enough, there he found the car smashed into the guard rail. The driver must have hit the ramp at 80 miles per hour and went right through the intersection. You should see the skid marks.”
The driver was not in the car when the officer arrived and police from several area departments, including Pottstown, North Coventry, Lower Pottsgrove and West Pottsgrove, joined in the search.
A Pennsylvania State Police helicopter was also used in the search, said Wheatley.
The suspect was not located, but Wheatley said information developed by police with the use of facial recognition software has helped to identify the suspect.
“We’re developing charges of fleeing and eluding and reckless endangerment” in addition to the charges related to the car theft, Wheatley said.
He said the car was stolen at knifepoint Aug. 19 in the borough of Bridgeport and the car’s license plate was put into the police database.
Each day, that database is downloaded into a device newly available to Upper Pottsgrove Police.
The device, appropriately called an LPR or License Plate Reader, instantly reads license plates and alerts officers to any active warrants or police information in that day’s database that may be associated with that vehicle, or the registered owner.
Wheatley said a grant through the Montgomery County Office of Public Safety allowed him to equip a vehicle at a price tag of more than $30,000 with the equipment.
Wheatley informed the township commissioners of the event during Aug. 20’s meeting.
He said because police kept a PAL ball game at the fields off Chestnut Grove Road from getting started while they searched for the driver, the commissioners might get calls and he wanted them to be informed.