Houseless Couple Sentenced In 2020 Middletown Carjacking: DA

MIDDLETOWN, PA — A couple was sentenced Monday for two violent carjackings and one attempted carjacking in November 2020, the Bucks County District Attorney's Office said in a news release.

Eric Meehan, 29, and Ashley Young, 32, both pleaded guilty on Oct. 12 to two counts each of robbery of a motor vehicle and aggravated assault, and one count each of criminal conspiracy to commit robbery of a motor vehicle and attempt to commit robbery of a motor vehicle.

Meehan also pleaded guilty to three counts of terroristic threats and one count of fleeing or attempting to elude police.

Both were houseless at the time, according to the release.

Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey L. Finley sentenced Meehan to between 10 and 30 years in state prison, and Young to between six and a half and 20 years in state prison. Both were ordered to pay $7,699.86 in restitution.

Around 2:45 p.m. on Nov. 27, 2020, police said, Meehan and Young forcibly took a woman's car outside the Chandler Hall Senior Center and then struck a man and woman who were trying to help the woman who had just been robbed. The DA said both victims were taken to the hospital with multiple injuries, including shoulder injuries that required surgery.

The pair then drove off and made it as far as the intersection of Summit Trace Road and Newtown Bypass, where they unsuccessfully attempted to steal another man's car. Meehan and Young traveled to the 500 block of White Swan Way in Middletown Township, where they then forcibly took a resident's valuables and his car and drove away, abandoning the first stolen car, police said.

The pair was eventually stopped by a helicopter and police cars on the 1600 block of Orthodox Street, where they struck several parked cars and one occupied car, according to authorities.

As part of the sentencing, the DA's office played police dash cam footage that showed Meehan and Young fleeing Bensalem and Philadelphia police in a sport-utility-vehicle. They apparently blew through red lights and busy intersections, drove into opposing traffic and onto a sidewalk, and at one point nearly struck a pedestrian crossing the street.

This case was investigated by Newtown Township Police, led by Corporal Daniel Bartle, and Middletown Township Police, led by Detective David Denton, with assistance from Bensalem Township Police and Philadelphia Police. The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Thomas C. Gannon.

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