Suspect in Millburn Carjacking Pleads Guilty
TRENTON, NJ – On November 27, 2017 at 1:48 a.m. a Millburn family returned home from vacation and ended up being the victim of an armed carjacking where their 13-year old daughter was held at gunpoint. Ahmed Anthony, 30, who was arrested on January 11, 2018 plead guilty to first-degree carjacking and second-degree kidnapping charges stemming from the incident. Under the plea deal with the state, it will be recommended that Anthony receive a prison term of 14-years and will be ineligible for parole for 12 of those years, stated Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal.
“Today’s guilty plea ensures a long prison term for this violent offender who terrorized a Short Hills family,” said Chief Brian Gilfedder of the Millburn Police Department. “This was the result of a great collaborative investigation by the Millburn Police Department, Division of Criminal Justice, New Jersey State Police, and the U.S. Marshals Service.”
“This defendant turned an armed carjacking into an even more terrifying experience for the targeted family by grabbing the 13-year-old daughter in a choke hold and threatening her life,” said Attorney General Grewal. “This guilty plea carries a lengthy prison sentence and reflects our resolve to protect New Jersey residents from this dangerous form of street crime.”
Two unidentified co-conspirators remain at large.
Anthony is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 24. His defense attorney is reported as Assistant Deputy Public Defender Dennis Freile, Essex County.
The State Attorney General’s office detailed the crime as follows:
Anthony and two unidentified co-conspirators ambushed a family at about 1:48 a.m. on November 27, 2017, as the family returned from vacation to their home in Millburn. After the mother and an older child went into the house, the 13-year-old girl and her father were bringing luggage toward the home from their Range Rover. That is when Anthony grabbed the girl from behind in a choke hold and pulled her back toward the Range Rover. The father heard a man yell, “Give me your keys or I will kill your daughter.” He turned to see Anthony holding his daughter and a second man who approached him with what appeared to be a handgun and demanded his money and keys to the Range Rover in which the family arrived. The father handed the keys to the second man, who drove away in the Range Rover.
At that point, Anthony, while still holding the daughter, demanded that the father get the keys to a second Range Rover parked in the driveway. The father went into the house and retrieved the second set of keys. Once outside, the father turned over the keys and the daughter was released. Anthony took the girl’s suitcase and her blanket. The father and daughter went into the house, where the father retrieved a handgun and went back outside. He confronted Anthony, who was in the second Range Rover and apparently having trouble starting the vehicle. The father pointed the gun at Anthony and ordered him to get onto the ground. Anthony exited the vehicle but fled into the street on foot and was picked up in a minivan driven by the third co-conspirator.
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