Carjacking leads to stabbing
and two separate collisions

What started out as a carjacking in a Mayfair shopping plaza Saturday led to the stabbing of an elderly woman and two separate collisions.
Six people were injured after the incident started at around 6:40 p.m. in the parking lot of Shop Rite at Frankford Avenue and Knorr Street.
There, a 74-year-old woman was loading groceries into her car when Joseph Caruso, 50, of 2250 Kennedy St. in Bridesburg, allegedly approached with a knife.
Caruso allegedly stabbed the woman in the arm and then attempted to wrestle away the keys of her 1996 Crown Victoria, according to Capt. Jack McGinnis of Northeast Detectives.
The victim fought back and then fell into the driver’s seat of her vehicle. Caruso started the ignition with the woman still hanging out of it. She was dragged 5 to 10 feet before coming to a rest at the front of the parking lot, McGinnis said.
A witness flagged down a police officer from the 15th District, who stayed with the woman until paramedics arrived. The woman was treated at the scene and then taken to Northeast Detectives to give a statement, according to Beth DiDonato, a police spokeswoman.
According to McGinnis, Caruso then started eastbound on Knorr at a high rate of speed, and at Knorr and Torresdale Avenue, he struck a Honda occupied by a 29-year-old female and her 8–year-old son. The child was taken to Frankford Hospital with minor injuries.
Despite two flat tires and extensive front-end damage, Caruso continued driving the stolen vehicle southbound on Torresdale Avenue, McGinnis said. At the intersection of Levick Street, he collided with a minivan driven by a 59-year-old man and a 59-year-old woman and a BMW driven by a 37-year-old man. Officers from the 15th district apprehended him there. There was no word on the extent of the other victims’ injuries.
Caruso was charged with attempted murder, robbery, theft and six counts of aggravated assault, McGinnis said. He remains in custody on $10,000 bail. An arraignment hearing is scheduled for Sept. 5.
Court records show that Caruso, who also operates under the name Joshua Bey, already had a criminal record. Prior to Saturday’s incident, he was most recently arrested and charged with theft and receiving stolen property. ••