PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A 19-year-old has been convicted for taking part in a brazen carjacking spree in Philadelphia last year.
Prosecutors say it all started in the early hours of Jan. 27, when a group of people, including Symair Carson-Williams, stole a Honda CR-V from the 1800 block of Lansing Street. The group drove the stolen car to a Sunoco on North Fifth Street around 5 a.m. and pulled up next to a 67-year-old man putting air in the tires of his BMW. Two jumped out of the car, armed with handguns, and demanded the man give up his car keys. One of them put a gun to the man’s head and forced him to the ground.
Prosecutors say the man told them his keys were in the car. One person then hopped in the BMW and drove off; the other got inside the CR-V and also left the gas station.
About 15 minutes later, a 34-year-old man, parked in his Chevrolet Equinox in Holmesburg along Shelmire Avenue near Mayfair Memorial Playground, was forced out of his car when two people ran up to the man’s car, pointed guns at him, and ordered him to lie face down on the ground. They threatened to shoot him if he got up.
They fled in the Equinox and took the driver’s wallet, watch and power tools.
The third carjacking happened around 5:45 a.m. at a Conoco on Rising Sun Avenue near Godfrey Avenue in Crescentville.
Officials say a 54-year-old man was pumping gas when two gunmen approached, stuck guns in his face and forced him to the ground before one of them took off in his Honda Accord. The other got back in the stolen CRV and fled.
Carson-Williams was convicted of three counts of carjacking, conspiracy to commit carjacking and firearms offenses. He was charged in May 2024 and will face at least 21 years in prison.