PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Northeast Philadelphia family, grateful to have survived a harrowing carjacking and robbery at gunpoint at their home, wants other city residents to know it can happen to anyone — and not to let their guard down.
The family is still so shaken by the incident that they wanted only their first names to be used for this story.
John and his family live in the area of Frankford and Morrell avenues. He says it started as a normal night. He picked up his son after a night out with his friends. They stopped at Wawa. He pulled into his driveway and walked into his house with his son by his side.
"As I was walking into my house, I saw a green laser going down my hallway. Next thing I know, I felt a gun pressed to the back of my head," John said.
"Me, still I'm kind of in shock, thinking someone is messing with me. Turned around, and the gun is my face."
After a brief struggle for the gun, John let go because his son was standing there. The suspect made off with his wallet and the keys to their new Durango. No one was hurt.
John's wife Jennifer said the hardest part for her is losing a feeling of safety.
"The difficult part for me is that I have spent, and John has spent, a lot of time building our home and making that a safe place for our kids," Jennifer said.
"In 30 seconds, these two individuals managed to completely emotionally dismantle the one place my family should have felt safe."
John says some city residents, particularly in the far Northeast, can be lulled into a false sense of security. But he says what happened to his family can happen to anyone.
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More importantly, he said, people everywhere need to not let their guard down.
"Our neighborhood is majority law enforcement. And I am usually pretty aware of my surroundings everywhere I go. Out front of my house, my guard is down and it showed."
He says he wants neighbors to look out for each other.
"Constantly look at your surroundings, where you are at. Don't be comfortable with where you are at, either, 'cause it doesn't matter," John said. "They were driving through the neighborhood, and I was at the wrong place at the wrong time. And they are not scared to come up in your doorway."
John says his car and wallet can be replaced, but he can't, and he realizes how lucky he is.
The number of carjacking incidents in Philadelphia has risen precipitously in recent years. In 2019, there were 225 carjackings in the city. In 2020, the figure jumped to 409. And in 2021, there have been at least 718.
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