PERP SEARCH IN WEST SIDE

An assault and subsequent car chase and perp search made for some drama late Sunday night...

At around 22:50, PSP Embreeville, GFAC, and Medic 91 were dispatched to the report of an assault victim and possible carjacking at the VisionQuest facility at the Embreeville complex in West Bradford. Initial reports indicated 5 black males (later determined to be 3 actors) assaulted the victim - who, according to initial reports from Chester County Fire Radio, suffered a head injury during the attack - and fled the scene in a Dodge Charger, black in color, in an unknown direction. WCPD units were alerted, due to the possibility that the actors might flee eastbound on Strasburg Road heading towards the borough.

Sure enough, a few minutes after dispatch, Sgt. James Morehead spotted the suspect vehicle on Strasburg Road and began to follow the car into the borough. The actors then fled, causing a brief pursuit to be initiated. The Charger was then boxed in a parking lot of a commercial business on the 100 block of North Wayne Street, where all three of the suspects bailed from the car.

Approximately 10-15 minutes later, Ofc. Jason O'Neill initiated a ped stop at the parking lot across from St. Agnes Church at New Street and Hannum Avenue. The stop paid off as one of the three actors was arrested and taken to the station. After a lengthy search of rooftops and backyards along the North New and West Chestnut Street corridors, a 2nd actor was apprehended in front of 348 Hannum Avenue (at the bottom of the hill) and transported to WCPD headquarters by a Westtown-East Goshen officer. The search for the third actor was about to head southward from the scene, covering an area along Market and Miner Streets.

As the clock struck midnight, the search reached the beginning of the end, as Cpl. Josh Lee, from a vantage point on top of the Justice Center garage, observed a black male subject on a rooftop in the 50 block of North New Street. Units then converged on that location and were finally able to apprehend the subject, with a West Whiteland car transporting him to the station. At around 01:00, investigators from PSP Embreeville arrived on Wayne Street to begin processing the car and to continue to search for a gun that may have been used in the incident. Meanwhile, Ladder 53 was brought in to North New Street to assist the police in gaining access to the property and gather evidence from that crime scene.

The victim was transported by GFAC and Medic 91 to Chester County Hospital. Assisting WCPD were PSP/Embreeville, West Goshen Police, Westtown-East Goshen Police, West Whiteland Police, Uwchlan Police, Tredyffrin Police, and Chester County DES Comm-1 mobile command unit.