Phillis Fugah — Upper Darby Township Police
A woman who carjacked an SUV with a baby still inside and fired a gun at the children’s father has been sentenced to federal prison, prosecutors announced on Thursday, March 12.
Phillis Fugah, 25, of Upper Darby, was sentenced to 10 years and one day in prison and five years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Savage in Philadelphia, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Fugah previously pleaded guilty to carjacking and using, carrying, and discharging a firearm during a violent crime in connection with an armed carjacking on the 7100 block of West Chester Pike in Upper Darby on Aug. 29, authorities said.
Court filings show Fugah and a male accomplice approached a parked Honda Pilot where a father sat waiting for his wife with his two young children inside the vehicle.
The accomplice opened the passenger-side door but fled the scene, according to prosecutors.
Fugah then opened the driver’s side door, climbed into the SUV, and pointed a gun at the father while demanding money, authorities said.
During the chaos, the victim’s five-year-old son got out of the SUV and ran to the sidewalk while the father exited the rear driver’s side door and tried to stop Fugah after realizing his infant child was still inside the vehicle, prosecutors detailed.
As the father struggled to stop her, Fugah raised the gun and fired at him, according to court documents. The bullet partially shattered the driver’s side window and struck the victim’s baseball cap, narrowly missing his head.
A fragment of the bullet also struck the window of an occupied SEPTA bus across the street, passing over the heads of several passengers, authorities said.
Fugah then drove away in the Honda Pilot with the infant still inside.
The SUV was found a short distance away and the child was recovered unharmed, prosecutors said.
The case was investigated by the FBI’s Newtown Square Resident Agency and Upper Darby Township Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Doherty and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra Urban prosecuted the case.