Police say a teen carjacked a pizza delivery driver, then took off with his van while a woman and children were inside
Investigators believe the suspect, 18-year-old Shaun Triplett, fled in a vehicle that was reported stolen during a separate carjacking incident.
Police have arrested a teenager they say carjacked a pizza delivery driver in North Philadelphia on Tuesday night, then took off with the victim’s minivan while the man’s girlfriend and three young children were still inside.
Investigators said 18-year-old Shaun Triplett lured the delivery driver there with the goal of taking his vehicle, then threatened to shoot the man’s girlfriend while he drove her and her children half a mile, said Deputy Commissioner Benjamin Naish, who oversees investigations.
No one was injured.
The incident was the latest in an alarming spike in carjackings in Philadelphia, which began in 2020 amid a surge of gun violence in the city and has continued through this year. Naish said more than 300 carjackings have been reported through the first 11 weeks of 2022, more than were reported in all of 2019.
The spike has prompted police to convene a task force of investigators who collaborate with state and federal investigators and are focused exclusively on solving carjacking cases.
» READ MORE: Carjackings in Philly are on a record pace. Officials aren’t sure why.
Triplett was apprehended by police near North 31st Street and Euclid Avenue, and officers recovered a semiautomatic handgun. He faces charges of carjacking, kidnapping, and illegal weapons. He did not have an attorney listed as of Wednesday.
Police said the initial carjacking happened at about 10:50 p.m. on the 2700 block of Warnock Street, where a 36-year-old driver was called to deliver a pizza. The man had his 35-year-old girlfriend and their three children — ages 8, 6, and 2 — with him at the time. Naish said investigators believe the driver was “drawn there for the purpose of the carjacking.”
The driver told police that when he got out of his vehicle to drop off the pizza, a masked man got into the minivan and drove away. The woman told investigators that a brief struggle ensued and that the driver threatened to kill her, so she jumped out of the van.
Meanwhile, police in a helicopter were tracking the minivan to 12th and Cambria Streets, about half a mile from the carjacking. Police say Triplett got out of the van and jumped into a sedan with two other unidentified men, then sped away toward the Strawberry Mansion area, where he was captured minutes later.
The children were reunited with their parents shortly thereafter.
Naish said the sedan had been reported stolen during an earlier carjacking. He said Triplett has not been charged in connection with that case, and that the investigation is ongoing.