Failed W. Philly robbers use machetes, bats
Two punks with machetes and bats tried to rob a man Wednesday night in West Philadelphia, police said.
The men approached a man on Regent Street near 48th at 8:30 p.m.
"I heard the would-be victim yell for someone to call the cops and the guys fled," said Jessi Roemer, 43, who lives on the block.
Roemer said that the man was visiting one of her neighbors when the attempted robbery occurred.
On www.westphillylocal.com, a community blog, resident Bill Green wrote that the two men wore ski masks and one had a machete, the other a baseball bat when they grabbed the man and tried to snatch his backpack.
No one was hurt, Green wrote, because he screamed and neighbors, including the man's girlfriend, came out yelling.
Police said that the machete- and bat-wielding bandits got away with zilch.
Southwest Detectives said that this isn't the first time muggers have used machetes.
The West Philly blog reports a similar mugging in January on Beaumont Avenue near 48th Street, about six blocks away from the latest incident.