'Keys, Or I Kill Your Daughter': Alleged Short Hills Carjacker

SHORT HILLS, NJ — A grand jury indicted a Newark man on several charges Tuesday after he allegedly grabbed a 13-year-old girl around the neck and threatened to kill her in front of her father during a recent carjacking in Short Hills.

According to the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, Ahmed Anthony, 30, of Newark, and two unidentified co-conspirators allegedly ambushed a Short Hills family around 1:48 a.m. on Nov. 27, 2017 as they returned to their home from vacation on Thanksgiving weekend.

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, when Anthony allegedly grabbed the teen from behind in a choke hold and pulled her back towards the car, prosecutors said.

At that point, the father allegedly heard another man yell out: “Give me your keys or I will kill your daughter.”

The father then turned to see two men, one of whom was holding his daughter. The second assailant approached him with what appeared to be a handgun, then demanded that he hand over his money and the keys to the family’s Range Rover.

When the father handed over the keys, the second man took off in the vehicle, prosecutors said.

According to prosecutors:

“Anthony, while still holding the daughter, allegedly 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.”

At that point, the father and daughter went back into the house. The father then grabbed a handgun and went outside to confront Anthony, who was unable to make his getaway because he was having trouble starting the vehicle, prosecutors said.

The father pointed the gun at Anthony and ordered him to get on the ground. He later told police that Anthony got out of the car, but then fled into the street on foot, where a third conspirator picked him up in a minivan, prosecutors said.

Following a police investigation, Anthony was arrested on Jan. 11 by the New Jersey State Police Fugitive Unit, the Millburn Police Department, the U.S. Marshals Service NY/NJ Regional Task Force Newark Division and the New Jersey State Police Auto Theft Task Force.

He was ordered detained pending trial following his arrest, prosecutors said.

Millburn Police Chief Brian Gilfedder said Tuesday that a police investigation continues for the other two suspects involved.

On Tuesday, an 11-count state grand jury indictment charged Anthony with:

• Conspiracy (1st degree)
• Carjacking (2 counts, 1st degree)
• Robbery (2 counts, 1st degree)
• Kidnapping (2nd degree)
• Burglary (2 counts, 2nd degree)
• Terroristic Threats (3rd degree)
• Receiving Stolen Property (2nd degree)
• Theft by Unlawful Taking (2nd degree)

“This indictment reflects our commitment to meet this type of violent crime with aggressive prosecutions,” said Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice. “The first-degree carjacking charges Anthony faces carry a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, including mandatory parole ineligibility equal to 85 percent of the sentence imposed.”

Prosecutors said that the other first-degree charges carry a sentence of 10 to 20 years in state prison and a fine of up to $200,000. The charges of carjacking and robbery carry a mandatory minimum period of parole ineligibility equal to 85 percent of the sentence imposed. Second-degree crimes carry a sentence of five to 10 years in state prison and a fine of up to $150,000. The second-degree kidnapping charge carries a period of parole ineligibility equal to 85 percent of the sentence imposed. Third-degree crimes carry a sentence of three to five years in state prison and a fine of up to $15,000.

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File Photo: Millburn Police Department