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Delaware state police have arrested five suspects after US Representative Mary Gay Scanlon was robbed of her car at gunpoint in a Philadelphia park on Wednesday.
The suspects were located in Ms Scanlon’s vehicle and an investigation is underway, the police said, adding that additional details will be released once available.
Ms Scanlon, a Democrat who represents Pennsylvania’s 5th Congressional District, was unharmed in the mid-afternoon carjacking, which occurred as she walked to her SUV and was approached by two armed men believed to be aged 20-30, city police said.
The suspects demanded the keys to her vehicle and she handed them over, at which point one man drove off in her car and the other got into a second SUV and followed as the pair made their getaway, according to police.
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Several of Ms Scanlon’s personal and work-related items were taken in the stolen vehicle, police said.
The Philadelphia Police Department was working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which assumed the lead in the investigation because the victim is a member of Congress, police said.
In a brief statement posted on Twitter, Ms Scanlon (62) who has served in the House of Representatives since November 2018, thanked the police department for its “swift response”.
Her spokeswoman, Lauren Cox, said the congresswoman had just ended an outdoor meeting with other elected officials at FDR Park in south Philadelphia to discuss plans for future renovations to the area when the carjacking occurred.
“I am relieved that Congresswoman Scanlon was not physically injured, and my thoughts are with her during this difficult time,” Philadelphia police commissioner Danielle Outlaw said in a statement.
Police declined to say whether Ms Scanlon may have been singled out by the carjackers because she was recognised as a politician or public figure.
Ms Scanlon serves on the House Judiciary and Rules committees, and is vice chair of the House Administration Committee. – Reuters