Cops: Woman stole two cop cars during two stops in two states

A "reckless" woman who stole not one but two cop cars during two separate police stops in two states this morning is now in custody, according to police.

"I've never heard of anybody stealing two police cars in the same incident," Philadelphia Deputy Commissioner Richard Ross said.

Ross, who gave an impromptu news conference at the site where the woman was apprehended on Hope Street near Wildey in Northern Liberties, said the suspect, who has not yet been identified, was first stopped along with a male companion in Camden this morning in front of or near the Camden administration building around 10 a.m.

After her unidentified male companion was placed in to custody in the back of a Camden police cruiser, the woman was able to escape Camden authorities and get in to the front of that marked Camden police car, Ross said. She reportedly hit a Camden officer as she fled, causing him minor injuries.

"The female breaks loose and takes the Camden vehicle with the other suspect in the back," Ross said. "And then, she's off for the races."

Though Ross declined to identify how the woman came in to Philadelphia, television news cameras showed her driving across the Ben Franklin Bridge.

Once in Philadelphia, local police gave chase for several blocks through Northeast Philadelphia, before calling off the pursuit for safety reasons. During that time, the driver hit a female pedestrian, who suffered minor injuries, and weaved in and out of narrow streets, sometimes driving on the sidewalk, according to police. She also hit at least three cars her wild ride.

She then crashed the Camden cruiser at 7th and Norris streets around 10:05 a.m. As police tried to apprehend her, she broke loose, apparently leaving her companion behind before stealing a Philadelphia police cruiser, according to Ross.

The out-of-control motorist was finally apprehended when cops surrounded her at Hope Street near Hancock shortly before 10:30 a.m., police said.

"It will be a litany of charges she will face, just in Philadelphia," Ross said. "The peril that you put people in when you do that ... come across state lines, steal two police cars ... I've never heard anything like this before."