A Philadelphia family was held hostage over the weekend by armed men who demanded cash, police say
Five people were held hostage over the course of two days as armed men forced one to withdraw cash for them.
Police are searching for three men who they say held a Northeast Philadelphia family hostage in their home for two days, torturing a man and demanding that he withdraw a large sum of cash.
The men were armed when they abducted a 45-year-old man in front of his house on the 4600 block of Decatur Street in Holmesburg on Friday evening, said Capt. John Ryan, the commanding officer of the Northeast Detectives Division, who spoke during a news conference Monday.
He said the man, his wife, and their 10-month-old son were held hostage until Sunday evening, along with the man’s 68-year-old father and a family friend who had stopped by the house to check on them.
The captors, who have not been identified, wore masks and gloves throughout the ordeal and tortured the man, Ryan said. On multiple occasions over the course of two days, investigators believe they forced the man to withdraw cash from ATMs.
The man was treated at a hospital and released. No one else was seriously injured.
“But their life was in danger,” Ryan said. He added that police were “not going to get into the details of what happened over the course of the weekend.”
Particulars on the harrowing weekend were scant by Monday afternoon. Ryan would not disclose the amount of money taken, saying only it was “significant.” He said investigators are still probing why the man and his family were targeted and confirmed earlier reports that the investigation somehow involves a local casino.
The still-early investigation began Sunday evening when the man told police he’d just been released and that the assailants had fled. He could not offer a detailed description of the men because they were masked.
Ryan said investigators are combing through “lots of video” footage as they tried to piece together the crime.