Man sent to prison for Montco theft, fleeing from police

A man will have to serve state time for stealing two large armfuls of jeans wholesale online jeans from Bloomingdale’s and then fleeing from police, crashing into two cars in his attempt to avoid capture.
Tyree Harding, 29, of Philadelphia, Monday was sentenced to one to five years in state prison after pleading guilty to retail theft, recklessly endangering others and fleeing from police.
The incident to which Harding pleaded guilty occurred on the night of April 9, 2010, beginning at the Bloomingdale’s department store at the Willow Grove Park mall in Abington.
A Bloomingdale’s security officer reported to police that a man had swept up two large armfuls of men clothing wholesale men’s jeans, having a retail value of $3,160, and ran out of the store without paying for them.
An Abington patrol officer spotted a car and driver, matching the descriptions given to police by the security officer, traveling south near the Abington Pharmacy on Old York Road.
When the officer activated his emergency lights, the car pulled over to the curb lane but then accelerated across two traffic lanes, running a red light and crashing into two vehicles at the intersection of Old York Road and Horace Avenue.
When the car came to a stop in a diagonal position over the median strip, the driver fled on foot. The patrol officer began to pursue the man on foot but broke off the chase when he noticed that the car that the man had been driving was still moving. The patrol officer got into the car, put it in park and removed the key.
A search ensued for the suspect but he could not be found. However, on the car’s passenger seat floorboard, police found a Pennsylvania identification card belonging to Tyree Harding, who matched the description of the suspect.
A warrant for Harding’s arrest was subsequently issued.
Harding has a 25-page rap sheet for crimes ranging from retail theft to drug charges to weapons charges and other violent crimes, according to authorities.
Police found the stolen jeans in the back seat of the car.