NORRISTOWN — The end of the road was prison for a Philadelphia man who admitted to participating in two carjackings, one in Philadelphia and one in Abington Township.
Rashawn Amin Williams, 19, of the 5500 block of North American Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 5-to-15½-years in a state correctional institution after he pleaded guilty to felony charges of robbery of a motor vehicle, conspiracy engaging in robbery of a motor vehicle, simple assault and fleeing and eluding police in connection with two incidents that occurred in Philadelphia and Abington on Sept. 18, 2024.
Judge Steven T. O’Neill, who accepted a plea agreement in the case, also ordered Williams to complete four years of probation consecutive to his parole, meaning Williams will be under court supervision for nearly 20 years.
The investigation began about 11:35 a.m. Sept. 18, 2024, when Philadelphia police responded to a parking lot in the 100 block of East Olney Avenue for a report of a carjacking. A 54-year-old woman told police she was sitting in her 2018 Nissan Rogue vehicle near her workplace when three males approached her and one of the males ordered her out of the vehicle, grabbed the keys from her hand and then stole the vehicle.
About a half hour later, at 12:08 p.m., Abington police responded to a report of a carjacking in the parking lot of the Michael’s store in the 1400 block of Old York Road. A 26-year-old woman reported she parked her 2024 Chevrolet Trax and was walking toward the store when two males grabbed her from behind.
“The males wrapped their hands around her body, neck and face as she struggled to break free. The males ripped her bag, which held her car keys, wallet and other property, from her shoulder and used the keys to steal her vehicle,” Abington Detective Robert Hill Jr. wrote in a criminal complaint, adding the woman suffered minor injuries during the assault.
The two male suspects fled in her vehicle and were followed by the Nissan Rogue that had been reported stolen earlier in Philadelphia, court papers indicate.
Detectives used automated license plate readers in the area to track both vehicles fleeing toward Philadelphia.
Two Abington police officers spotted the stolen Chevrolet Trax in the area of Tabor Road and Masher Street in Philadelphia and followed the vehicle. When the occupants of the stolen vehicle became aware that they were being followed, they fled from police and a vehicle pursuit was initiated.
The suspects crashed the Trax by striking a curb and both males, the driver and a front seat passenger, fled on foot into a wooded area, according to court documents.
Numerous police and K9 units searched the area and eventually located the two suspects hiding in the brush and took them into custody.
Police identified Williams as the driver of the stolen vehicle and the other suspect was a juvenile, whose name was not released.
While officers were transporting Williams back to Abington for processing, he used his cuffed hands to damage wires to a camera that is used to monitor prisoners in the rear of the vehicle, causing about $5,000 in damage, court documents indicate. Williams also pleaded guilty to a charge of institutional vandalism.
Utilizing state laws that allow them to do so, Montgomery County authorities handled the prosecution of charges related to both carjackings in Abington and Philadelphia.
Court papers do not indicate if others were charged in connection with the incidents.