On Wednesday evening, the young men, stepbrothers, had growing criminal histories and outstanding arrest warrants.
Then, in less than 15 minutes, police allege, 18-year-old Donta Cradock and Ivan Rodriguez, 20, graduated from stealing a motorcycle at gunpoint to murder in a horrific car crash that stunned a Feltonville block with the split-second end of the lives of a young mother and three children.
Though separated two years ago when Cradock was sent to a juvenile facility in Pittsburgh after an armed holdup in Philadelphia for a pack of beer, they appear to have been reunited - illegally - two months ago when Cradock disappeared April 15 while home on a pass.
Since then, Cradock seems to have remained in the area despite a bench warrant for his arrest. Rodriguez was also on the lam - wanted after he failed to appear June 2 for a preliminary hearing on charges involving a stolen car.
Now each will be charged with four counts of murder, and Feltonville neighbors and public officials want to know how two men with troubling criminal records remained at large.
Among them is Cradock's mother, Vanessa Cradock, who said she also raised Rodriguez. In an interview with NBC10 news, she said she had called her son's probation officer after he failed to return to Pittsburgh when his pass expired.
No one came to pick up the wayward 18-year-old.
Police Capt. James Clark, head of the homicide unit, told reporters yesterday that Cradock and Rodriguez are "well-known to police."
Most of their arrests are not public record because they occurred when the two were juveniles. But police said yesterday that Cradock had eight arrests - five involving firearms - and Rodriguez five, many involving stolen vehicles or stolen car parts.
Police said the .357 Magnum revolver used to steal the motorcycle was found in the wrecked Pontiac with Cradock.
Police said that after Rodriguez was arrested at his home, a search of his house yielded a 20-gauge sawed-off shotgun, a 7 mm hunting rifle, and a pellet rifle.
Cradock's one arrest in public court records occurred April 2, 2006, and involved charges of robbery, conspiracy, firearms violations, and related counts. Because of his age, the case was referred to Family Court.
Court system sources say the robbery involved the stickup of a pedestrian for an eight-pack of beer.
A police spokesman, Lt. Frank Vanore, said Cradock's record goes back to about age 12 and includes one incident that ended in a car crash.
Cradock, who police said drove the car that crashed, was hospitalized but expected to recover. He lived in the 300 block of East Rockland Street, about five blocks northeast of the crash site, on Third Street near Annsbury Street.
Clark said Rodriguez was arrested Wednesday night at his home in the 4100 block of North Eighth Street, about five blocks to the southwest in Hunting Park.
The victims were Latoya Smith, 22; her daughter, Remedy, who would have turned 1 today; Aaliyah Griffin, 6, who Clark said was related to Smith; and Gina Marie Rosario, 7, the daughter of a neighbor.
Officials yesterday tried to calm tensions created by early reports that Cradock crashed the silver Pontiac Grand Am because he was fleeing a high-speed police pursuit.
Mayor Nutter called the four deaths "just a completely crazy random action."
"There's not a situation in the city where there should be a feeling of any kind of panic, but we are constantly telling the public that there are people on the streets who should not be," Nutter said.
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