Cops catch cabbie's carjackers
Cops caught the cabbie carjackers. The two thugs who beat and robbed a taxi driver and then stuffed him in his trunk were arrested earlier today, police spokeswoman Officer Jillian Russell said.
Cops catch cabbie's carjackers
The two thugs who carjacked and robbed a cabbie on Valentine's Day, beating him so severely he needed 100 staples to close a head wound, are cousins who police were able to arrest earlier today, thanks to tipsters who recognized them from video surveillance footage, said Lt. John Walker of Southwest Detectives.
Dawand Williams, 25, and Nahfeeh Williams, 18, whose last known address was on Mifflin Street near 20th in South Philadelphia, were charged with aggravated assault and related offenses for the attack on a 53-year-old driver for County Cab. That man, whose name wasn't released, remains at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania after surgery, Walker said.
The driver picked up the cousins just after 11 p.m. on Feb. 14 at the 69th Street Terminal in Upper Darby, Walker said. The pair directed him to take them to the housing projects at 82nd Street and Lindbergh Boulevard, where one took off his belt and wrapped it around the driver's neck while the other rifled through the driver's pockets and stole his wallet, Walker said. Unsatisfied with the $100 they found, they beat driver with an unknown object until he gave them his pin numbers for his debit cards, Walker said.
They then chucked him in the taxi's trunk and drove around for awhile before parking the cab near 82nd Street and Lyons Avenue around 1 a.m., instructing him to free himself only after he'd given them time to get away, Walker said. After escaping the trunk, the driver then drove to his employer's base at 68th and Upland streets, where his colleagues called for an ambulance.
"It was a difficult case, because the victim was sedated and grabbed from behind, so he probably didn't get a good look at these guys anyway," Walker said. So investigators enlisted SEPTA to get surveillance video from the terminal. Sure enough, detectives quickly spotted the cousins roaming in and out of the station and climbing into the cab, the only one curbside waiting for fares, Walker said. After publicizing video stills of the suspects, multiple tipsters called and helped lead police to an apartment in on Copley Road in Upper Darby, where the cousins were staying with a relative, Walker said. The money and debit cards weren't recovered, but police found a hoodie one suspect wore in the surveillance video in the Upper Darby apartment, Walker added.
"This was a brutal attack, clearly thought out," Walker said. "But fortunately, security cameras have been upgraded so well that we were able to get some very good video from SEPTA to solve this case."
Court records show no adult record for Dawand Williams. Nahfeeh Williams has two prior arrests for theft and trespassing, records show.
Comment removed.- Perhaps you should learn to read better. This was a CAB, not a HACK. Do you know the difference? (I don't care for the way most cabbies drive, but that doesn't mean they deserve to be brutally beaten and robbed).
- Dawand and Nahfeeh. Do the parents really expect someone with a ridiculous name to get a respectable job?— Wednesday
- So their names are to blame for the crimes they committed? A grown man can change his name...
- Not their names, but their namesake. Their parents and the rest of the "village" are to blame for this, and nothing else. BTW, cousins? Aren't you all cousins?
— 835union - so surprised the stinky will allow comments.....when will they be on oprah to tell us what a hard life they had. gusess they'll be out by friday— frank1121
- All the bigots out and about with their anonymous names. How brave.— BumSatellite
- A brilliant observation from you.. With an answer like that, it's safe to say your part of the problem. Keep on deflecting.
- DAwand and Nafeeh, typical rednecks...— Breaking Bad
- "It was a difficult case, because the victim was SEDATED and grabbed from behind, so he probably didn't get a good look at these guys anyway," Walker said.
The cab driver was IMPAIRED while driving? Are charges being brought for driving under the influence?
Really?
Alternatively it's hopeful Lt. Walker interviewed the cab driver at the hospital after the crime which would better explain 'sedated'.— Spenn - Hey Spenn - yes, sedated at the hospital, meaning the cops couldn't interview him at the hospital after the attack to get information to solve the case. — Dana DiFilippo
- Just look at them - and their names are part of who they are - are any of you really surprised that they're out committing violent crimes? They're two thugs, period, lock them up for a long time, please. I'm glad SEPTA has upgraded their surveillance, we use it a lot and it makes me feel just a little safer knowing everyone's on camera nearly all the time on SEPTA grounds and vehicles.— PhillySubsMac
- Strangled with a belt?? Tossed in the trunk?? 100 staples to close the cabbie's wound?? Hopefully the related charges these thugs are facing are KIDNAPPING and ATTEMPTED MURDER. The DA needs to stop protecting his own kind and needs to throw the book at these losers.— gilligan
- I sincerely hope the cabbie recovers,it's terrible to do something like that to a person trying to make a living in a tough environment.— Jim Morris
- What do their names have to do with anything? They'd be just as terrible excuses for human beings if their names were Christopher, Adam, or James.— PRphillyphan17
