A man armed with a machete lurked in the parking lot of a Philadelphia condo building for more than an hour before police say he lunged at a woman and tried to abduct her.
Philadelphia Police released surveillance video Thursday of the man suspected in the Tuesday incident in the gated lot of the Hawthorne Lofts along the 1200 block of Fitzwater Street in the Hawthorne section of the city.
The man, wearing a coat and black hat and carrying a backpack, entered the lot around 5 a.m. and spent more than an hour checking cars before a 58-year-old woman got near him, police said. The man, with what appeared to be a machete in hand, then lunged from behind a car and told the woman to get into the car.
The woman threw her keys to the ground and darted off, investigators said.
A witness said she heard the woman's screams.
The machete-wielding man then briefly chased after the woman before being startled by a vehicle coming into the lot.
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Police asked anyone who sees the man to call 911. Anyone with information is asked to contact Philadelphia police.
