A Philadelphia man has been indicted on charges related to an armed carjacking that took place in West Philadelphia earlier this year. Xavier Peterson, 19, was arrested and charged with one count of carjacking and one count of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, according to United States Attorney David Metcalf.
Peterson was ordered held in federal custody following a detention hearing.
According to the indictment, the incident occurred on April 4, 2025. Court filings state that Victim 1 parked his Subaru Crosstrek in West Philadelphia to drop off his girlfriend, Victim 2. A masked individual approached them, pointed a handgun at the couple, and forced them out of their vehicle before driving away.
About forty minutes after the carjacking, Victim 2 received a notification that her credit card—left inside the stolen vehicle—had been used in Upper Darby. Law enforcement in Delaware County began searching for the Subaru Crosstrek.
Roughly an hour after the initial incident, a Haverford police officer spotted the stolen vehicle speeding on West Chester Pike toward Interstate 476. When police attempted to stop the car on I-476, court documents allege that Peterson fled from the driver’s seat while three passengers remained inside. Officers located Peterson hiding near the highway about five minutes later and found a loaded semiautomatic handgun nearby.
If convicted of these charges, Peterson faces a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in prison and could receive up to life imprisonment.
The investigation involved multiple agencies: the Philadelphia Police Department, Haverford Township Police Department, Radnor Township Police Department, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant United States Attorney Michael Miller is prosecuting the case.
“The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty in court,” officials stated.
