northeast philly

Guy Sneaks Into Back Seat, Attacks Driver After 7-Eleven Stop

A man with a machete attacked a driver after a he stopped at a Northeast Philadelphia 7-Eleven store

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A man’s quick stop at a Northeast Philadelphia 7-Eleven store earlier this week left him bloodied after a man carrying a large knife sneaked into his car's back seat and waited for the man to drive home.

The scary incident played out Tuesday night shortly before 7 when Jonen Kolker backed into a parking space outside the convenience store at Byberry and Academy roads in the Far Northeast.

“He left his car running, he left it unlocked,” Police Lt Dennis Rosenbaum said Friday while noting the victim said he made a mistake in judgment. “He runs into the 7-Eleven.”

The 30-year-old victim of a machete-wielding man talked to NBC10 reporter Aaron Baskerville about the startling realization that an armed attacker snuck into his parked car.

Surveillance video released by Philadelphia police shows a shadowy figure lingering around the car in the &-Eleven lot then hopping into the back seat.

“(The driver) is completely unaware that this subject had gotten into his car,” Rosenbaum said.

Kolker gets back in and drives away, his music turned up, only discovering the guy in the back seat when he returned home about a half mile away, Rosenbaum and the victim said. That's when the man in the back began slashing Kolker with a machete during a robbery attempt.

“The male then tells him that he has a gun so the (the driver) let’s go and runs and alerts neighbors to call 911,” Rosenbaum said.

"I felt the feeling that he was just as nervous and scared as I was, that's what initially made me think, 'go grab it," Kolker told NBC10.

When police arrived the knife-wielding attacker was gone.

The attack left Kolker with several deep cuts to his hands, police said. Nothing was taken in the robbery. He had to get stitches.

Police couldn’t get a good description of the attacker from the video, but said it appeared that robbery was the motive.

Anyone with information is asked to call Philly police.

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