Police search for suspects in armed robbery spree

UPPER DARBY, Pa. (WTXF) - Police say three suspects are involved in a violent armed robbery spree stretching from Upper Darby to West Philadelphia.

"They're on a tear at this point," said Lt. John Walker of Southwest Detectives."Five jobs, guns used, two cars taken, one crashed. Dangerous individuals."

Detectives say two female suspects and at least one male have been robbing cab drivers, Dominos delivery drivers and people on the street at gunpoint. Police have now recovered the 2013 Hyundai Sonata used as the getaway car in connection with a series of armed robberies.

Taxi driver Muhammad Rauf says he was terrified when a young woman passenger stuck a gun to his chest as he arrived to pick up a fare on the 200 block of Copley Road in Upper Darby.

"I was so scared. No option so I give money," he told FOX 29.

Rauf quickly handed over $90 and ran from the vehicle, then called police as the two teenage gun-toting bandits fled. Superintendent Michael Chitwood says Rauf was the second cabbie robbed by the female bandits in two hours last Monday night.

The two female suspects were back at it Friday morning as 52-year-old Martha Chacon and 86-year-old Maria Cardenas walked out of a garage on Kent Street. They were confronted at gunpoint and told to hand over their handbags.

"They don't want to let them take the bags, so they grabbed them. A woman takes out a gun and they just punch with the gun," Chitwood said."They go in the scumbag category when they attack an 86-year-old woman."

The suspects struck Maria in the arm with the gun. They got away with cell phones and two pocketbooks containing $900. Maria and Martha are visiting for the summer from Ecuador.

Southwest Detectives say the Hyundai was stolen last week from a Dominos delivery driver during a robbery in West Philly. Police chased the bandits at one point before they crashed the car and fled. Two days later, they stole this Volvo at gunpoint from another Dominos driver.

Police believe a fourth suspect may also be involved. No one has been seriously injured.