Carjacking leads to police pursuit that ends in crash, explosion in Montgomery County

UPPER PROVIDENCE TWP., Pa. (WPVI) -- Police are searching for a group of eight to 10 people after a wild police chase that ended with a crash in Montgomery County.

Upper Providence police were notified by police in Norristown that a stolen car had been tracked to a Wawa on Egypt Road just after midnight on Friday.

As police searched for that car, license plate readers got a hit on a second stolen car in the area as well.

When officers neared the intersection of Egypt and Longford roads around 1 a.m., they came upon four cars and a group of masked people.

As police approached with their lights on, the group jumped into three cars and fled, leaving a woman behind.

"That person that was there indicated she was just carjacked," said Mark Freeman, the chief of Upper Providence Police. "We have a young lady who was broken down in the middle of the road, help comes, and all of a sudden they find themselves getting carjacked."

One car sped toward Mont Clare, two others sped north toward Yeager Road with police in pursuit. As the chase approached the intersection of Lewis Road, one vehicle crashed into a guardrail and utility pole sparking an explosion.

"It was an explosion, I knew it was a car accident," said Bruce Fazio, who lives next to the area where the car crashed.

He watched as police canvassed the area looking for the people who managed to get out of the car and into a wooded area.

Over the next several hours, police canvassed the area looking for the group. They also checked several nearby schools.

"They had multiple police cars on school property," said Rick Russo, who witnessed the search. "They were also deploying drones, flying over my house."

The Spring-Ford Area School District increased security on Friday because the armed group was never located.

The car stolen from Norristown was found abandoned in Pottstown later in the day. Police are now looking for evidence and trying to identify suspects as they search for the third vehicle.

Police are asking for help from the public.

"That's concerning, the brazenness of these individuals," said Freeman. "I don't want to see anyone get hurt."