A 17-year-old Scranton resident faces multiple felony charges after an overnight crime spree involving an attempted armed robbery and a botched carjacking that ended with a driverless vehicle crashing into a fire hydrant.
Police first responded to the area of Quincy Avenue and Vine Street just before midnight Monday. Holly Hughes told officers she was sitting on her front porch talking on the phone when a young man, later identified by police as Justin Joel Sikaffy of Harrison Avenue, pulled out a small black handgun and demanded her wallet, according to a criminal complaint.
Hughes said Sikaffy addressed her politely as “ma’am” throughout the encounter. She told officers she only had a single dollar bill on her and did not hand it over. Sikaffy then walked away heading north toward Moses Taylor Hospital.
About an hour later, around 1 a.m. Tuesday, officers were called to the 100 block of Crown Avenue for a second incident.
Shantel Loughney, a DoorDash driver, was waiting in her running vehicle for her cousin, Sheila Fraizer, when Sikaffy approached the car, knocked on the window, and pointed a gun at her.
“Get out of the car or I’m going to shoot you,” he threatened, according to police. Loughney stepped out of the vehicle.
As Fraizer was returning to the vehicle, Sikaffy turned the gun on her, ordering her to back up.
Sikaffy jumped into the moving vehicle, but struggled to operate it as it rolled backward. He then jumped out, apologized to the women, and fled on foot down Crown Avenue, according to the complaint.
The unoccupied vehicle continued rolling backward across the intersection of Moosic Street and Crown Avenue, mounted the curb, struck a fire hydrant, and deployed its airbags before stopping on top of the hydrant.
Police set up a perimeter around Front and Donnelly streets and spotted Sikaffy running through yards on Quinan Court. Officers took him into custody after he resisted arrest.
While being transported to the police station, Sikaffy told officers, “Y’all don’t understand why people do what they do, cause they going through stuff, that’s why they do it,” according to the complaint.
Officers located the gun, a black Glock 43x .9mm, in an empty lot in-between 619 and 633 Hemlock Street.
Sikaffy was charged as an adult with robbery, aggravated assault, evading arrest, and reckless endangerment. He was arraigned Tuesday morning before District Judge Paul Ware. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Sept. 28.