Next to one’s home, one’s car is usually the most valuable property. So, when armed criminals steal one’s car at gunpoint, it is a crime that makes one feel especially violated.
I recall some years ago speaking to then-Philadelphia Police Capt. John J. Ryan, who headed up Major Crimes, about carjacking.
“Carjacking is stealing someone’s car through robbery,” Ryan said to me. “We see a lot of juveniles, aged 17 and 18, committing carjacking. They are on their way to becoming harden criminals.”
Ryan explained that carjacking is a violent and shocking crime, and he noted that the elderly often suffer heart attacks and other injuries that are a result of being mishandled.
“Carjacking is a Hobbs Act violation, which gives the federal government jurisdiction. The federal penalties are far stiffer than the state penalties.”
In 2020, the U.S. Justice Department formed Carjacking Task Forces across the country. In Philadelphia, the carjacking task force was comprised of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI and the Philadelphia Police Department.
“We want our community to know that significant strides are being made on their behalf by the Philadelphia Carjacking Task Force,” then-U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Romero said in 2024. “At the same time, we want carjackers, and would-be carjackers, to know that we can and have charged defendants as young as 18 years old federally, and in the cases we’ve prosecuted, we’ve obtained some very significant sentences. Carjacking defendants routinely receive sentences of seven to 15 years – and can even face up to a lifetime of imprisonment in some cases.”
The ATF stated it brought crime gun intelligence tools to the table.
“Carjacking is not only a deadly, dangerous crime, it is a serious federal offense, carrying lengthy federal prison sentences, even for first-time offenders,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge (then as well as now) Eric J. DeGree. “Our team of ATF special agents are working tirelessly with our partners in the Philadelphia Carjacking Task Force.”
Which brings me to a recent carjacking case.
On Aug. 18, U.S. Attorney David Metcalf announced that Nyeem Williamson, 23, of Philadelphia, was sentenced to 85 months in prison and five years of supervised release by United States District Judge Nitza I. Quiñones Alejandro for a March 2024 armed carjacking.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Williamson and co-conspirator Khala Hardy, 24, also of Philadelphia, were charged by indictment in October 2024 with conspiracy to commit a carjacking, carjacking and using, carrying and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. Williamson pleaded guilty this past March. Hardy pleaded guilty in July 2025 and was sentenced in May to more than seven years in prison.
“On the night of March 15, 2024, Williamson and Hardy targeted a female driver (“Victim 1”) who was dropping off a friend in South Philadelphia,” court documents stated. “Hardy approached on the driver’s side of the vehicle, opened the driver door, pointed a gun at Victim 1 and directed her to ‘get out and give me your keys.’
“Victim 1 exited her Toyota RAV4 and the two carjackers fled in the vehicle, with Hardy driving. Shortly after the carjacking, Hardy instructed Williamson on how to disable the Toyota’s GPS system and cameras to avoid detection by law enforcement, as documented in their group chat messages.
Court documents further stated that three days after the carjacking, on March 18, 2024, Philadelphia Police Department officers on patrol in West Philadelphia observed the carjacked Toyota RAV4 driving the wrong way down a one-way street.
“Police activated their lights and sirens to initiate a traffic stop, but the vehicle sped off before coming to a stop on a pedestrian sidewalk in the area of 400 N. Hobart St. PPD officers identified the defendant as the driver of the stolen vehicle and arrested him that night. PPD detectives processed the vehicle and recovered a loaded .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol and the defendant’s cell phone.”
The case was investigated by the Philadelphia Police Department and the ATF and prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. ••
Paul Davis’s Crime Beat column appears here each week. He can be contacted via pauldavisoncrime.com.
