Harrisburg Man Sentenced to 8+ Years in Prison for Carjacking Senior Citizen at Knifepoint in Lancaster, PA

U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania
23 October 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Suudimon Washington, 33, of Harrisburg, PA, was sentenced to 100 months’ incarceration, three years’ supervised release, and ordered to pay a $2,000 fine and $200 restitution by United States District Judge Edward G. Smith for a violent carjacking in Lancaster on October 12, 2018.

The defendant approached an 85-year-old man in Lancaster City, brandished a knife and demanded the victim’s keys. Washington then ordered the victim to open the door to the car and climb into the passenger seat. After he drove the victim for several miles through the Lancaster area, he dropped the victim off at a campground in Lancaster County. Later that evening, the defendant was observed driving the victim’s vehicle in West Philadelphia. Philadelphia Police Department officers conducted a traffic stop and arrested the defendant. In May 2019, Washington pled guilty to one count of carjacking.

“When a defendant in a high-profile violent crime case such as this is brought to justice and put behind bars, it brings a sense of relief to the community,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “And when a particularly vulnerable person is targeted – like children, the disabled or the elderly – it puts us all on edge. Thanks to the work of our investigative partners, Mr. Washington is in prison where he belongs.”

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Lancaster City Bureau of Police, and the Philadelphia Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert E. Eckert.

Contact:
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA
Suite 1250, 615 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106

JENNIFER CRANDALL
Media Contact
215-861-8300

If you have not done so already, follow @USAO_EDPA and @USAttyMcSwain to get the most up-to-date information about big cases and community news.