Suspect in 1-man 1-night crime spree held for court
‘I apologize to the family,’ defendant says as he's led from court
MIDDLETOWN » A Philadelphia man has been held for trial on attempted murder and other charges in a December crime spree spanning Philadelphia, Chester and Delaware counties that included one man being shot in the face.
Zahkee Austin, 23, of the 1600 block of South Marston Street, is charged with two counts of attempted murder in the shooting a 72-year-old man and his 62-year-old sister-in-law, as well as burglary, robbery, aggravated assault, attempted robbery, robbery of a motor vehicle, criminal trespass and firearms offenses.
District Judge Walter Strohl heard testimony Wednesday from the male victim, who said he heard a knock at his door on the 500 block of Turner Street in Middletown at about 12:30 a.m. Dec. 5 and thought it was his neighbor.
“I cracked the door because my camera wasn’t working,” he said. “He pushed the door in. He put a gun to my head.”
The victim said it was dark and the robber was wearing a ski mask, so he could only see his eyes. He said the gunman demanded money and forced him upstairs.
“When we got upstairs, he asked my wife for jewelry,” the victim said. “He put a gun to my wife’s head. At that point I tried to distract him from my wife and he shot me in the face.”
The victim told Deputy District Attorney Geoff Paine that he had been shot from about 3 feet away.
He said his sister-in-law came out of her room when she heard the commotion and the robber shot her in a leg. Paine described the woman’s wound as a through-and-through to her thigh, and said the male victim also suffered a grazing wound to his shoulder.
State Trooper Matthew Smith testified that he responded to the Turner Street residence and spoke with the uninjured witness, who described the gunman’s clothing.
He said the other two victims had already been transported to the hospital, but he learned that a silver Chevrolet was involved in the robbery, and was alerted to a carjacking in Philadelphia several hours earlier about 8 p.m. on Dec. 4 that was believed to be the same vehicle and gunman.
Video surveillance had captured a man wearing similar clothing described by the Turner Street victim robbing a person of their silver 2020 Chevrolet Malibu at gunpoint at Germantown and West Hunting Park avenues, Smith said. He went through the video in court, which had also captured the vehicle’s license plate.
Robberies, shot at
Smith said additional video surveillance had put the vehicle in the area of Turner Road and two other crime scenes.
The first was an Exxon gas station in West Goshen, Chester County, where a man wearing the same clothing brandished a firearm at a clerk and had him open the cash drawer. The gunman reached over the counter and took cash out of the drawer before fleeing in that video surveillance, Smith said.
The fourth incident took place at a convenience store on Ogontz Avenue in Philadelphia, said Smith. Video surveillance again captured the Malibu arriving, but this time it shows the driver — wearing the same clothing as was seen in the other incidents — place his hand on top of the car as he exits the vehicle, Smith said.
Video surveillance inside the store showed the robber entering, pushing a patron and pointing a gun at them, then turning the gun toward the clerk, said Smith. The clerk then pulls his own firearm and fires several shots toward the would-be robber, who flees the store and leaves the Malibu behind, according to Smith.
Smith said police recovered the Malibu and found a black jewelry box inside that had been taken from the Turner Street victims.
The box included an envelope with the unharmed witnesses name and contact information inside, he said. Smith said Philadelphia police were also able to lift prints of Austin’s right ring finger from the roof of the Malibu and his right middle finger from the envelope.
Mom turned him in
An affidavit of probable cause stated that police had issued an alert with an image of the gunman about 11:15 a.m. Dec. 5, and that Austin’s mother had called police about two hours later, identifying her son as the suspect.
He was taken into custody without incident shortly after midnight Dec. 6, according to an affidavit written by Smith.
Austin provided a re
corded statement to Philadelphia police officers and troopers in which he allegedly said something to the effect of, “I’m a thug. I live the street life,” when asked why he had shot the Middletown victims, according to the affidavit.
Smith told defense attorney Kevin Horan that he was not present when Austin was arrested or provided the statement, but that Austin had said in that interview that he threw the gun in the river. Smith said Austin was not licensed to carry a firearm.
Austin had a couple of short, unintelligible outbursts in court during testimony, but was quickly quieted by his attorney.
As he was led from the small courtroom, Austin turned to the victim’s family members, smiled, and said, “I apologize to the family.”
Horan presented no witnesses and reserved argument for Common Pleas Court. Judge Strohl set formal arraignment for April 26 at the County Courthouse in Media. Austin remains incarcerated at the county jail in Concord pending $3 million bail.