Man steals car with kids inside, Dad chases him down, beats him to death, with help from crowd

In Philadelphia this week, a man was beaten to death during the commission of a heinous crime, and police are trying to sort out exactly what happened, and whether and who to charge for the death of the multiple-priors criminal.

It began on Thursday night, as NBC10 in Philadelphia reports (see video below.) It was around 9pm, and a mother with young children stopped her car outside of a pizza place where her boyfriend, the father, was working. She left the car running as she went in to speak to the dad, and that's when a 54-year-old, apparent career criminal, identified by police as Eric Hood, stole the vehicle, speeding off with the kids inside.

The boyfriend, the father, pursued the car on foot, and caught up with the thief and kidnapper about a block away in traffic.

That's when the beating took place.

The moment was filmed and uploaded to Instagram, and portions of that video are shown in the NBC report. According to police and reporters, the father pulled the criminal, Hood, from the vehicle and began to punch and then kick him. Allegedly, bystanders joined in on the beating.

When emergency responders arrived, they found Hood unconscious and severely injured. He later died at the hospital.

At a press conference, officials advised citizens this situation could have been avoided, and to lock their cars, never leaving children in them. They have not charged anyone, but they are investigating and future charges are possible.

"I'm not a fan of street justice," said Philadelphia Police Capt. Jason Smith at the press conference Friday. "I think everything should play out through us as it comes to criminal actions."

Here's more, from CNN. (H/T The Right Scoop)