by Alex Lloyd Gross
Carjackings are scary. One male, Kevin O’Connell, who had no fixed address would use syringes and threaten to stab victims with them unless they have up their vehicles. During one such incident, on August 12,2022, he approached an elderly woman in a parking lot at Commerce Circle. She was there for a medical appointment. He asked her for a dollar and when she refused, O’Connell then threatened her with the needle, took her keys and knocked her to the ground when he got away.
He was arrested in Philadelphia Police then found , through DNA evidence that he was responsible for a similar carjacking March 16. 2022. This one was at a McD9onald’s parking lot, court records show.
In addition to the carjackings, O’Connell pleaded guilty on Monday to burglary and related offenses for committing a May 27, 2022, burglary in Tullytown Borough. In that burglary, he entered the garage of a home on Stonybrook Drive in the early hours of the morning and stole $5,000 in tools and household items. He pleaded guilty in April to committing a March 27, 2022, burglary in the Croydon section of Bristol Township. In that burglary, he entered a home on Newport Road and stole $20,000 from a safe and took other electronic devices.
Earlier this month, he entered a no contest plea to two counts each of robbery of a motor vehicle, robbery, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, and terroristic threats, three counts of simple assault and one count each of aggravated assault and recklessly endangering another person.
In addition to the state prison sentence, O’Connell was ordered to have no contact with the victims, undergo a drug and alcohol evaluation and pay restitution to the victims of more than $30,000.