Josiah Brown, 19, of Wilmington has been charged with carjacking a Congresswoman’s vehicle and using a firearm during an incident at Franklin D. Roosevelt Park in South Philadelphia Wednesday afternoon.
Brown made his initial appearance in federal magistrate court in Philadelphia Thursday afternoon and is currently detained.
According to the complaint, while U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Delaware County, and an associate were speaking near her parked vehicle, an SUV pulled up alongside and blocked them in. One suspect got out of the SUV, pointed a gun at Scanlon, and demanded the keys. At the same time, a second suspect exited the SUV. Scanlon complied, and both suspects got into the Scanlon’s vehicle and drove away. A third suspect driving the SUV then fled following the victim’s car.
Investigators determined that the victim’s vehicle contained tracking equipment. The vehicle was detected in Wilmington, and then in Christiana. When multiple individuals approached the parked vehicle in the parking lot of the Christiana Fashion Center, law enforcement detained five people, including Brown who was in possession of the keys to Scanlon’s vehicle.
Four others at the vehicle, all Wilmington juveniles, face lesser charges.
The investigation is ongoing.
“Anyone willing to victimize a total stranger at gunpoint at any time, much less in broad daylight, in the middle of the day, is a clear threat to our community,” said Jacqueline Maguire, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “No one who lives, works, or visits here should have to fear violent criminals targeting them for their vehicle or any other possessions. The FBI’s Violent Crimes Task Force will continue to work in lockstep with the Philadelphia Police Department and all of our partners to get guns out of the hands of those who shouldn’t have them and dangerous individuals off the street. We will never cede this city to criminals who have total disregard for the lives and safety of others.”
If convicted, Brown faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
