Center City robber who punched victims pleads guilty
As audacious as the crime itself was the robber's signature ending of the encounter: a hard punch to his victim's face.
As audacious as the crime itself was the robber's signature ending of the encounter: a hard punch to his victim's face.
Yesterday, the person on the other side of that fist, Carlton Williams, pleaded guilty to seven nighttime robberies of women in Center City last fall, between Sept. 23 and Oct. 7.
Williams, 33, a short, trim man, said little in court except the word
guilty
to four counts of first-degree felony robbery, two counts of second-degree robbery, one count of third-degree robbery, two counts of aggravated assault, and one count of simple assault.
Common Pleas Court Judge Karen Shreeves-Johns set sentencing for Nov. 24 and warned Williams that he faced significant prison time. Each count of first-degree felony robbery carries a maximum prison term of 20 years.
Williams, of the 1100 block of South 23d Street, has been in prison after failing to post $50,000 bail since his arrest in November. Jury selection was to have begun in his trial Monday but was canceled when Williams indicated that he wished to plead guilty.
As outlined by Assistant District Attorney Vince Regan, Williams' robberies followed a consistent pattern: He approached his victims at night - usually after midnight - on a bicycle, stopped and grabbed the victim's purse, punched her in the face or head, and fled.
"Every one of these victims wants to testify at his sentencing," Regan said after the hearing. "There's one who has moved to Texas, and she is talking about flying back to be here."
Two victims were in court yesterday: Joan McQuillen, 67, who was mugged and robbed about 7:30 p.m. Sept. 24 while walking in the 800 block of South 10th Street, and Stephanie Gelman, 22, who was robbed in the early morning of Sept. 27 at 15th and Pine Streets and then punched repeatedly in the face so hard that she sustained multiple fractures of her nose and facial bones.
Regan said Gelman's case "really bothered me because she immediately gave him her bag, kicked off her flip-flops, and ran. He chased her down to beat her."
Regan said Gelman's orbitals - the bones surrounding the eyeballs - were shattered to the point that surgeons at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital had to implant three metal plates with 21 screws to reconstruct them.
"I feel very lucky," said Gelman, whose face shows no signs of the trauma she sustained.
Regan said police detectives narrowed their search to Williams by mapping calls made with some of the victims' stolen cell phones.
That information and an outstanding bench warrant for Williams' arrest in an unrelated crime helped detectives get a search warrant for Williams' house.
Regan said victims' property was found in Williams' house.
Williams' arrest occurred while some Center City neighborhood groups were complaining of a spike in street crime.
"He may have been a big chunk of it," Regan added.
