The suspects in two armed carjackings in Bensalem this week lived at St. Francis & St. Vincent Homes for Children, police say.
Daniel Rosa, 15, and Tharyn Battis Jr., 18, have been arrested and charged with larceny, larceny, receiving stolen property and other charges in connection with two carjackings, Bensalem Township police said in a statement. Rosa is tried as an adult.
The first incident happened around 4:15 a.m. Monday when a resident of Oak Court in Bensalem said she was sitting in her car at home when a man tapped on the window with a gun and told her to give him her phone and walk away, police said. The man got into the car, a white Honda Pilot, and sped away with another passenger, police said.
Police later found the car empty in Oak Court.
Police responded to a report of a car theft at Magnolia Court around 5 a.m. Tuesday. By the time officers arrived, a Toyota Rav 4 had already been stolen. Police checked cameras and license plate readers to find the car and then tried to stop it at Street and Mechanicsville roads. The driver of the car rammed into the side of a police van and fled, police said.
Police chased the car and the passenger – later identified as Battis – got out and ran into a wooded area. Then police took him into custody at gunpoint and discovered he had a stolen gun.
Police later found the unoccupied Toyota in the 300 block of Penguin Drive.
Police later arrested Rosa, who they said was driving the Toyota, at his home. According to police, Battis and Rosa also committed the carjacking on Monday.
Rosa was remanded to the Bucks County Youth Center, and Battis was remanded to the Bucks County Correctional Facility.
Bensalem police said this was just the latest in a series of incidents linked to residents of St. Francis and St. Vincent, which they describe as a court-ordered home for youth who commit crimes in Philadelphia to live there. Police said several residents “went missing at the same time” early Monday morning in the hours before the first carjacking.
Bensalem police said they are targeting residents of the facility as they investigate a recent increase in crimes in the Brookwood and Eddington sections of the township, particularly car burglaries and thefts.
Bensalem police said residents should be vigilant and call 911 if they see suspicious activity.