Abington officer hurt in crash with getaway car in Phila

An Abington Township police officer was hospitalized and an alleged bank robber in custody Friday after a car chase that began in Jenkintown and "wound all over Philadelphia," police said.

Police identified the suspect as Aaron K.M. Thomas, 47, of the 100 block of North 54th Street in West Philadelphia.

He was awaiting arraignment Friday on robbery and related offenses, according to Abington Township Deputy Police Chief John Livingood.

Livingood said that about 11:15 a.m. a man went into the PNC Bank at 123 Old York Rd., tossed a plastic bag onto the teller's counter, and said: "Fill it up."

No threats were made, no note was shown, and no bank employees were injured, Livingood said.

The robber left the bank with an undisclosed amount of cash and drove southbound onto Broad Street in a black Range Rover. Abington Township police pursued the vehicle as it zigzagged throughout the city.

At one point the Range Rover got on the Roosevelt Expressway at Broad Street and exited at the Fox Street exit. When it did, the Range Rover purposely struck an Abington K-9 police vehicle there, but neither the officer nor dog was hurt, Livingood said.

At the intersection of 17th and Oxford Streets in North Philadelphia, the Range Rover went through a red light and was struck by a car. The Range Rover then collided with the pursuing police car and a light pole, Livingood said.

"That's where the officer got injured," Livingood said. He said the driver got out and ran with the bag of money in his hand, but Abington officers apprehended him a short distance away.