Haverford Police Stop Leads To Federal Carjacking Charges

PHILADELPHIA — A traffic stop by Haverford Township Police has led to a federal armed carjacking case for a Philadelphia man, according to authorities.

The federal charges were filed against a Philadelphia man in connection with an April carjacking that started in Philadelphia and ended in Delaware County.

United States Attorney David Metcalf said Xavier Peterson, 19, of Philadelphia, was arrested and charged by indictment with one count of carjacking and one count of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, arising from an April armed carjacking.

Peterson was ordered detained in federal custody at a detention hearing this afternoon.

The indictment alleges that on April 4, Peterson carjacked a couple at gunpoint, forcing them out of their vehicle, which he then stole.

Authorities said that night, the victim parked his Subaru Crosstrek in West Philadelphia, to drop off his girlfriend.

A masked man approached them, pointed a handgun at them, and forced them out of the car.

The carjacker then drove away from the scene in the victim's vehicle.

About 40 minutes later, the girlfriend got a notification that her credit card, which was in the vehicle, was used in Upper Darby.

Delaware County police then started looking for the carjacked vehicle.

About an hour after the carjacking, a Haverford Township Police officer saw the stolen car speeding on West Chester Pike towards Interstate 476.

When the officer pulled the vehicle over on the highway, the driver, later identified as Peterson, ran off, while three passengers stayed in the car.

About five minutes after Peterson ran off, officers found him hiding in the underbrush next to the highway, and subsequently located a loaded semiautomatic handgun lying nearby.

If convicted, Peterson faces a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in prison and a maximum possible sentence of life imprisonment.

The case was investigated by the Philadelphia Police Department, the Haverford Township Police Department, the Radnor Township Police Department, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael Miller.