A Philly teenager was abducted and held hostage in a bizarre plot that included ransom demands, shoestrings and a father trying to chase down the captors himself on one of the city’s busiest highways.
Police tonight are still trying to piece the story together, but here’s how family members say it all played out.
The teen, a 15-year-old, was grabbed by three gunmen while he was walking home from school in Northeast Philadelphia. That trek takes him along the 10,000 block of Ferndale Street.
The gunmen called the 9th grader’s parents, demanding anything they had of value.
With teen in tow, they drove to the family’s home in a Silver Suburban station wagon. They tied up the parents with shoestrings and collected their ransom, which included jewelry, $30,000 in cash and the home’s surveillance video system.
The gunmen then took off with the teen.
His dad, who was able to work his way out of the shoestrings, jumped in his car and chased the abductors but lost them on the Roosevelt Boulevard, where he then flagged down a police officer.
Meanwhile, the teenager was somehow able to free himself about fifteen miles away near the Philadelphia Art Museum.
The teen is not hurt. He has been reunited with his family. Detectives are the home as well interviewing him to get his first-hand account.
This story is developing. Check back for updates.