A man says he was trying to get his pregnant wife and kids out of family minivan when a masked armed man came up and pushed him into his father’s home.
“He said ‘I don’t want to hurt your wife and daughter, I know that they’re outside in the van so give me what you got and nobody gets hurt,’” said Ricky Thompson.
Thompson, 19, and his family were returning home to the 2700 block of Springhouse Road in Northeast Philadelphia just after midnight when the masked man approached.
“I ran into the house screaming,” said Thompson.
“I kept thinking about my kid, I didn’t care about anything else, When he mentioned, ‘give me your stuff because I know your kid is outside’ so I just gave him my stuff and ran outside.”
Once inside, Thompson’s father came downstairs and got the masked man to leave.
“I was trying to get close to him and apprehended him and get close to police,” said Thompson’s father Walter DeMetro.
DeMetro said the attacker “looked like a young boy” and ran out of the house as DeMetro got close to him.
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No one, including Thompson’s 2-year-old, was hurt.
The attacker fled with Thompson's $10,000 Rolex and the keys to the minivan.
Philadelphia Police remained on the scene throughout the early morning hours of Friday.
The family and members of their church, the International Assembly of God Apostolic Church on Castor Avenue, say this is the third time in recent weeks that a member of the Roma Gypsy community was robbed.
Rev. Gerardo Colon is taking action in hopes of stopping the crimes.
"We are going to be hiring a private investigating and they are going to be sitting in front of the church," said Colon.
Colon himself was a victim. He says his home was burglarized during a service.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Philadelphia Police.
