A cab driver is recovering after he was shot by two passengers during an attempted robbery in the Point Breeze section of Philadelphia early Saturday.
Alex Destin, 38, told police he picked up two men and a woman at the corner of Broad and Wharton streets around 3:30 a.m.
One man got in the front passenger seat while the second man and the woman sat in the back. While he was driving them to their destination, two of the passengers pointed guns at Destin and demanded money, police said.
Destin told police both men fired a shot at him, striking him in the arm, causing him to crash into several parked cars.
The suspect who was in the front passenger seat fled. Meanwhile, the man and woman in the back seat were trapped and kicked the doors and windows, screaming to be let out as Destin flagged down a police officer. Before the officer arrived however, an unidentified passerby opened the cab door, setting the second man and the woman free, according to police.
Bonnie, a local block captain whose car was struck by the cab, told NBC10 she confronted the second man and woman after they got out.
"The girl, she was trying to hide," Bonnie said. "The guy was like, 'yeah, he hit your car and he hit them on purpose.' And I was like, 'so where are you going? You're a witness.'"
NBC10 obtained surveillance video from a nearby deli that may be related to the shooting. The video shows Destin's cab speeding through a stop sign at 24th and Morris moments before crashing into parked cars. The video also shows a man waiting on two others at Morris and 24th five minutes after the cab crashed and two minutes before police arrived at the scene.
Destin was taken to Penn Presbyterian Hospital where he is currently in stable condition.
Police are searching for the three suspects, all believed to be in their 20's. One of the suspects is described as a black male with close cropped hair between 5-foot-3 and 5-foot-5 inches tall who was wearing a 3/4 length coat and carrying a tote bag. The woman is described as a stocky black female with long, wavy hair standing 5-foot-1, wearing a waist-length coat and carrying a bag.
"Turn yourself in," said Nakira Carter, whose vehicle was struck by the cab and is now too damaged for her to drive. "You did something wrong. Own up to it."
If you have any information on the incident, please call Philadelphia Police.
Delaware State Police are investigating a robbery that took place Friday night in Newark.
At approximately 8:45 p.m. on Friday, a man entered the Valero on Old Baltimore Pike and demanded money from the two female clerks. The suspect did not show any weapons, and left the store after the clerks gave him an undisclosed amount of money.
The suspect is described as a white male, 20-25 years old. He was between 5’10” and 6’00” talk and was last seen wearing a dark colored sweatshirt, blue jeans, and a mask partially covering his face.
If you have any information about this robbery, please call 302-365-8566. You can also submit a tip online.
An investigation is underway after someone drew a swastika and wrote a racial slur in the snow on top of a car parked near Temple University’s campus.
A member of Temple's Black Student Union spotted the car Friday morning parked on the 2100 block of North Carlisle Street. Both the N Word and a swastika were drawn into the snow on the car’s windshield and hood. The member took a photo of the messages and the picture was eventually shared on social media.
Temple University spokesperson Brandon Lausch confirmed with NBC10 that police are investigating the incident.
“Temple University condemns the use of these symbols and language in the strongest terms,” Lausch said in a released statement. “The incident has been reported to Temple University Police and is actively being investigated. The university will make every effort to identify those responsible, and will hold them accountable.”
If you have any information, please call Temple Police at 215-204-1234. Lausch also says Temple students who want to speak to a university administrator about the incident should call the Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity, Advocacy and Leadership (IDEAL) at 215-204-5509.
Police are investigating an alleged hazing incident at a Chester County High School.
Officials with the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District say the incident allegedly involved current and former football players at Conestoga High School in Berwyn, Pennsylvania.
“The District places the highest priority on student safety and, to that end, is cooperating in any way it can with law enforcement officials,” school district officials said in a released statement. “As this is not currently a school district investigation, we are not in a position to answer any questions or provide more information at this time.”
Officials have not yet described the alleged hazing incident. Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan said they are currently conducting interviews as the investigation continues.
A senior at Conestoga High School told NBC10 she didn’t believe the allegations were true.
“The thing here is that with the football team there are boys in the locker room and stupid things are going to happen but nothing to the degree that is going around,” said Anna Koblish.
The investigation comes only a few months after a sexting scandal at Conestoga High School. At least one student was charged with sending sexually explicit images earlier in the school year. Louis Conry, a senior at the school, told NBC10 he believed both the sexting and hazing allegations are undermining the school’s reputation for academic achievement.
“Our students work hard,” Conry said. “They get insane grades. Being back in the news for all this negative stuff is ruining the school’s really good reputation it has.”
If you have any information on the hazing allegations, please call the Chester County District Attorney’s Office or Tredyffrin Township Police Department.
Officials are searching for an unidentified Good Samaritan who may have been exposed to rabies after saving a girl from a rabid raccoon.
The girl was walking home from school Thursday around 4 p.m. through a wooded area on the Bridlewild Trail near Dodds Lane in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania when a raccoon began to attack her. A man who happened to be driving by at the time stopped his car, ran towards the girl and beat the raccoon with a hockey stick until it let go of the girl’s leg. The man then drove the girl home to her parents but left before anyone could identify him.
The raccoon that attacked the girl was later captured by Lower Merion animal control officers and submitted for testing. On Saturday officials were notified that the animal tested positive for rabies at the State Public Health Laboratory. The young girl who was attacked received rabies shots Thursday night at a local hospital and is currently recovering at home, officials said.
The Montgomery County Health Department is requesting that the Good Samaritan or someone who knows him come forward so that officials can determine whether or not he was exposed to the raccoon’s saliva. They also want to give him rabies shots if an exposure is confirmed.
If you are the Good Samaritan or know who he is, please call the Montgomery County Health Department at 610-278-5117 and follow the after-hours instructions to speak to the On-Call staff. The Good Samaritan is described as a 6-foot-tall white male in his 50s or 60s. He was driving a small tan or bronze SUV.
CLICK HERE for more information about the rabies virus and symptoms.
Officials are battling a fire at a tavern in Millville, New Jersey.
The fire started Saturday night at Gilbear’s Tavern on the 500 block of S. 2nd Street. Officials have not yet revealed whether anyone was seriously hurt in the blaze.
This story is developing. Check back for updates.
An officer shot and killed a man early Saturday morning after he allegedly threatened police with a knife and held his girlfriend hostage during a standoff situation in Manchester Township, New Jersey.
Manchester Township Police went to a mobile home on the 1800 block of Route 37 West around midnight to issue an arrest warrant for 25-year-old Shyna Palmieri. When the officers tried to execute the warrant, Palmieri and her boyfriend, 27-year-old Michael Laniado, allegedly barricaded themselves inside the mobile home. Police say the couple then grabbed several large objects, including a spear, inside the home and began throwing them at the officers.
The responding officers retreated and called the Ocean County Regional SWAT Team. After the SWAT Team arrived a hostage negotiator tried to convince the couple to peacefully surrender but they allegedly refused. The officers then inserted a robot with a cellphone inside the mobile home and overheard Laniado threatening Palmieri, investigators said.
Police say they feared for Palmieri’s safety and fired tear gas into the home. Laniado then stepped out of the home while allegedly holding Palmieri at knifepoint and threatening to kill her. Police say Laniado then tossed the knife over his shoulder, indicating he would surrender. When officers moved towards him however, Laniado allegedly pulled out another knife and walked towards them.
Police say they fired several non-lethal dummy or bean bag rounds at Laniado but they had little effect on him. As Laniado continued to walk towards them with the knife in his hand, at least one officer took out a gun and fired several shots. Laniado was struck several times. He was taken to the Community Medical Center in Toms River where he was pronounced dead. The entire standoff lasted for nearly four hours, investigators said.
Palmieri was taken into custody. No officers were injured during the incident and both knives Laniado allegedly used were recovered at the scene. Police say one of the knives Laniado was carrying was a large karambit knife, a martial knife with a curved blade.
The Attorney General’s Shooting Response Team is currently investigating the incident.
After a mild weekend, snow is set to move back into our region this week, followed by frigid cold temperatures.
Super Bowl Sunday will be mild and sunny during the day with highs in the upper 40s. Late Sunday into Monday morning, however, an area of low pressure will track along the coast, bringing rain and a possible wintry mix at the Jersey Shore and coastal Delaware. Little to no accumulation is expected at this point.
While the first system should miss the Philadelphia region, another wintry mix will likely move into the Philly area Monday night into Tuesday. At this point, models aren’t showing much accumulation for Monday and Tuesday’s snow, with estimates of one to three inches, mostly on grassy surfaces. We could also see some snow showers Wednesday morning, though little to no accumulation is expected.
After the snow clears, colder weather returns, with temperatures in the 30s Wednesday through Friday. By Saturday temperatures will drop even more with a high of 29 degrees.
We’ll have updates on the timeline and estimated totals over the next few days. Stay with NBC10.com for the latest weather updates.
A Montgomery County town and supporters across the country are rallying behind a young girl who continues to fight for her life after nearly drowning in a bathtub last year.
On December 8, 2015, Bridget and Brad Turner were inside their Abington Township home when they heard a loud noise in their bathroom. When they went inside they found their 7-year-old daughter Allyson unresponsive and underwater. The parents quickly administered CPR and continued to do so until medics arrived. Allyson was then taken to Abington Memorial Hospital and then airlifted to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Allyson’s family says she was placed on a ventilator and put into a medically induced coma in order to preserve her brain function and allow her lungs to heal. She was also placed on an ECMO machine, which drains blood from the body, adds oxygen, removes carbon dioxide, warms the blood and then returns the blood to the artery and pumps it through the body.
As the young girl remained in a coma, her parents constantly stayed at her bedside and repeated the words, "Just fight," a phrase that would ultimately be the rallying cry for Ally’s supporters. Ally’s 11-year-old brother Liam created a t-shirt with the words, “Just Fight” on it. Soon thousands of the shirts were delivered to Abington Township residents as well as people across the nation who were following Ally’s story. A Facebook page, website and GoFundMe page were also created for the girl, gaining thousands of followers who showed their support by wearing the “Just Fight” t-shirt.
As the support for her grew, the young girl continued to fight through obstacles, including significant brain damage that was revealed in an MRI on December 19. On December 23, the Turner family received an early Christmas gift when Ally went off the ventilator and began breathing on her own. On Saturday, which marked 60 days since she was hospitalized, Ally showed remarkable improvement, according to her family, popping bubbles and using her right hand.
While Ally continues to show improvements in her recovery, her family acknowledges the fact that her future is uncertain. Yet one thing remains constant. With thousands of people in Abington and beyond in her corner, Ally will never have to fight her battle alone.
CLICK HERE to track Ally’s continued recovery and CLICK HERE to donate to Ally’s medical expenses.
A Philadelphia Police officer had a close call early Sunday when authorities say a car the officer pulled over took off, dragging the officer and prompting a police chase through the city.
Police said the officer and his partner pulled over the suspect's car near 60th Street and Lancaster Avenue in Overbrook about 2 a.m. after they saw the car, a 2008 Infiniti, traveling near 52nd and Lancaster without headlights. Police said when the officers approached the car, they could smell alcohol on the driver and inside the car, and see that the man's eyes were bloodshot.
The driver then, without warning, shifted into gear and accelerated, according to police. He struck one of the officers and knocked him off-balance, so the officer grabbed inside the car to avoid falling and being run over by it. The driver then kept driving at a high speed on Lancaster Avenue, dragging the officer alongside the car, police said. The officer eventually let go, falling to the ground and skidding about 20 feet on his side.
The officer was not injured, but his clothing and equipment were damaged. He and his partner put a description of the vehicle out on police radio.
About a half-hour later, another officer spotted the car a short time later on City Avenue near Belmont and trailed it to the Target parking lot along Monument Road. Police said the driver continued to flee, eventually crashing near Ridge Avenue and Kelly Drive.
Police said the man then ran from the car on foot, but officers spotted him on tennis courts off Ridge Avenue. They chased him on foot and eventually caught him, police said. They have not yet revealed his identity or the specific charges against him.
