Philly man gets 5-10 years in 69th Street hit and run
MEDIA COURTHOUSE >> A Philadelphia man was sentenced to five to 10 years in a state prison Tuesday after pleading “no contest” to charges of carjacking and fleeing police after a hit-and-run at 69th Street in Upper Darby last year.
Caliph Douglass, 33, of the 7300 block of Ringgold Street, pleaded no contest to felony charges of aggravated assault, robbery and fleeing or eluding police under a negotiated plea worked out by Assistant District Attorney Meaghan Wagner and defense counsel Joseph D’Alonzo.
Douglass was fleeing from Philadelphia police on a dirt bike at about 1:30 p.m. April 15, 2017, when he turned down 69th Street off Church Avenue, according to police. The street was busy due to a sold-out event at Tower Theater, with bumper-to-bumper traffic.
Police said Douglass was speeding down the middle yellow lines when he struck a 6-year-old girl and her 44-year-old great aunt, who were legally crossing in crosswalk.
Both suffered serious injuries and were knocked unconscious, police said, but firefighters were luckily on hand at the theater and sprang into action, getting the young girl admitted to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and her aunt to Penn Presbyterian Hospital.
Douglass was also injured in the collision, but was able to pull a driver out of another car and speed away from the scene. He did not make it far, however – police found the vehicle about five blocks away.
Officers searched the nearby woods and discovered a bloodied Douglass being tended to by a homeless man. He was taken to Delaware County Memorial Hospital for treatment before being transferred to Crozer-Chester Medical Center, where he was later arraigned at bedside.
Douglass did not speak during Tuesday’s hearing. D’Alonzo asked only that a cell phone Douglass had on him at the time of the arrest be returned.
In addition to prison time, Delaware County Common Pleas Court Judge George Pagano ordered Douglass to serve five years of consecutive state probation and provide a DNA sample to state police. He is also to have no contact with the victims.
Douglass is not eligible for early release on good time, but was given credit for time served back to his arrest date. A restitution order was also left open for 30 days.