Thief steals car with young children inside, leads police on chase in N.E. Philadelphia

A man is custody after stealing a car with two children inside in Northeast Philadelphia and leading police on a chase that ended a few miles away in Crescentville, officials say.

The children, ages 1 and 6,  were found unharmed after the thief left them on a residential street and drove off, police said.

Police gave this account.

About 9:45 p.m. Wednesday, a 28-year-old woman stopped on the 1000 block of Van Kirk Street in Summerdale to make a quick visit to a friend, leaving the two children in the back seat of her white 2010 Toyota Camry with the engine running.

When she got to the door of the house, someone jumped in the car and drove off.

The woman called 911 and the hunt was on.

Police soon spotted the vehicle but the driver avoided one attempt to stop him. Aviation Unit officers in a helicopter then picked up the chase while TV news choppers joined in.

"We made sure ground units didn't chase it because we didn't want the vehicle to get involved in an auto accident running from police," Chief Inspector Scott Small told reporters, citing concern for the children's safety.

At Castor and Wyoming Avenues in Crescentville, the thief rammed a curb and the car came to a halt.

Police rushed in, and as TV news cameras recorded from above, one officer, with his handgun drawn, pulled the man out of the car and pushed him to the ground and handcuffed him.

When officers did not see the children in the car, they demanded to know what happened to them. The alleged thief said he had left them on the 4700 block of Darrah Street in Frankford. A call came into 911 at the same time reporting the children had been found on the block.

The suspect's name and charges against him have not yet been released. Police said he appeared to be impaired.