Cops, feds nab fugitive W. Philly bandit

Cartel Wright ran, but he couldn't hide from a joint taskforce of U.S. Marshals, state parole officers and Philly police investigators.

Wright, 49, was arrested early today in an apartment on College Avenue near 21st Street in North Philly, said James Burke, supervising deputy for the U.S. Marshals in Philadelphia.

Authorities had been in pursuit of Wright for weeks after he allegedly committed a series of 13 violent robberies in West Philly, Montgomery County and Delaware County over a period of 10 months, including one that involved carjacking a 65-year-old man at gunpoint.

The trail heated up Monday, when Wright allegedly robbed a Walgreens on MacDade Boulevard in Glenolden, Lt. John Walker, of Southwest Detectives, said.

In the wake of that incident, the Marshals narrowed their search area for the fugitive to an apartment complex on College Avenue, Burke said.

They discovered his exact location late last night and got ready to arrest him, making their move about 2 a.m., Burke said.

When the members of the task force burst into the apartment, they found Wright hiding in a closet, Burke said.

Wright put up a fight, according to police, and was taken to Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital after complaining of chest pains.

He hasn't been formally arraigned yet, pending his release from the hospital, but will likely face robbery, gun charges, reckless endangerment and related offenses in his crime spree, according to Walker.

Wright will also be charged with violating his parole in a previous robbery case, Burke said. The state Board of Probation and Parole had issued its own warrant for Wright's arrest after he began his latest string of robberies.