9
3
A Philadelphia man and two juveniles are in custody and charged in the violent carjacking of a driver who was attacked while pumping gas at a Warrington station Monday.
The man pumping gas at the Luk Oil on Easton Road was attacked from behind and placed in a chokehold before the suspects flee in his vehicle. The attack was the second in a a short span of time Monday in Central Bucks.
An attempted carjacking happened at 6:50 p.m. in nearby Doylestown Township, when police say the three suspects tried to steal a car from a motorist pumping gas at the Shell station on South Easton Road, Route 611. They ordered the victim to turn over the keys, police said.
"After an attempt to physically restrain the victim, the victim was able to break free and run inside the gas station for help," police said in a news release Tuesday.
Surveillance footage showed the three loitering in the parking lot before the attempted carjacking, according to court documents. Investigators distributed images of them to officers in the area.
police tape
Witnesses provided that they saw three young males walking south on Easton Road in the area of Warrington. Around 8 p.m., township police were called to Luk Oil, at 1400 Easton Road, Route 611, for a carjacking.
A video of the incident shows one suspect approaching the driver from behind and two other joining in the assault of the man. "The victim was placed into a chokehold, pulled backward, and punched several times. At which point, the victim threw the keys at the vehicle," police said.
The suspects were identified as two juveniles and Zahir Johnson, 21, of Philadelphia.
Police said Johnson and the juveniles fled the Luk Oil in the vehicle, a Nissan Pathfinder, but were spotted by Warrington Police near the intersection of Route 202 and Route 152, a few miles from the Luk Oil gas station.
Authorities initiated a traffic stop and the vehicle fled, according to the release. They later found the vehicle crashed into a building at the intersection of Route 152 and E. Butler Avenue in nearby Chalfont.