Armed suspects tried to rob an armored truck in Northeast Philly, the fourth incident in under a month

Police said an attempted robbery of a Brinks vehicle was foiled by an employee firing his gun late Tuesday morning, marking the latest in a rash of incidents involving armed assailants targeting armored trucks in Northeast Philadelphia.

Around 11:30 a.m. on the 8200 block of Castor Avenue, a Brinks employee was making a delivery when two armed men approached him and announced a robbery, police said.

The Brinks employee fired his gun at the men, who then fled north on Castor in a Nissan vehicle, police said. Eight spent shell casings were recovered from the scene.

The employee was not hurt and no other injuries were known as of late Tuesday afternoon.

Another incident involving two gunmen in a Nissan occurred on June 26 around 3:15 p.m. on the 5200 block of Whitaker Avenue, police said.

A Loomis armored truck driver was making a delivery at an Aldi store when he was approached by two armed men, police said. The driver’s gun and about $1,000 in cash were stolen.

A spokesperson for the FBI said at the time that the agency was assisting the Philadelphia Police Department in that investigation.

The FBI spokesperson on Tuesday said the agency is also assisting on the latest case.

There have been two other recent incidents involving Brinks trucks.

On June 21 just before 8 a.m., a Brinks truck at a Home Depot store near the intersection of Castor Avenue and Thompson Street was robbed by two men in ski masks, police said. The robbers fled in a black Hyundai.

On July 2, a Brinks truck was targeted at a shopping center on the 8000 block of Frankford Avenue, NBC10 reported. Three armed assailants, including one with an AR-style rifle, took the employee’s gun and an unknown amount of money and fled in a silver 2022 Honda Accord.

A spokesperson for Brinks declined to comment and referred questions to law enforcement.