Saivon Norman of Collingswood and Hakiem White of Philadelphia have been implicated in a string of vehicle-related crimes that involved car thefts, carjackings, and a road rage shooting.
By Matt Skoufalos | March 2, 2024
Haddonfield Police Car. Credit: Matt Skoufalos.
A pair of suspects charged in a string of vehicle-related crimes on both sides of the Delaware River allegedly terrorized pizza delivery drivers in South Jersey, and eventually fired two shots into a van driving on the Schuylkill Expressway before they were taken into custody.
Twenty-five-year-old Saivon Norman of Collingswood faces charges in Haddonfield, Cherry Hill, and Philadelphia, and 35-year-old Hakiem White of Philadelphia faces charges in Cherry Hill and Philadelphia in connection with these incidents.
On February 9, Norman was arrested at the Haddonfield Starbucks for the alleged theft of a Mazda sedan that had been stolen from the Mechanic Street parking lot on February 7.
Haddonfield Police Chief Jason Cutler said Norman was also a suspect in two other vehicle thefts in the borough, a Dodge Caravan and a Volkswagen Tiguan, both of which had been in service as delivery vehicles for a local pizzeria when they were taken.
Norman allegedly stole these vehicles after calling in a fake pizza order, allegedly taking the vehicles when the drivers exited to make their deliveries.
“Ninety-five percent of the delivery guys leave their cars running,” Cutler said. “All three cars that he [allegedly] stole from us were left on and unattended. He never confronted anybody in our cases.”
Norman was charged with motor vehicle theft, and was remanded to the Camden County jail. After his arrest, Cherry Hill Police detectives questioned Norman about his role in the armed attempted carjacking of a pizza delivery driver about a week before his arrest in Haddonfield.
A little after 9:30 p.m. on February 3, Cherry Hill Police responded to the Waterford Apartments on Park Boulevard to find a pizza delivery driver who said he was waylaid by two armed men.
The victim reported that the suspects brandished a handgun and demanded he empty his pockets, and hand over the keys to his vehicle. However, the men were unable to find the vehicle, and fled the area. No injuries were reported in the case.
File photo: CHPD cruiser outside Cherry Hill High School East. Credit: Matt Skoufalos.
Norman was charged with first-degree carjacking and robbery in that case. Through his interviews with Cherry Hill detectives and Pennsylvania State Troopers while in custody, investigators developed White as a suspect in the Cherry Hill incident as well as another that allegedly followed in Pennsylvania later that same day.
After allegedly having failed to take the delivery driver’s vehicle at the Waterford Apartments, Norman reportedly confessed to driving the Dodge Caravan that had been reported stolen from Haddonfield on the Schuylkill Expressway in Philadelphia later that same day.
Pennsylvania State Police Cpl. David Shearn said another pair of motorists driving on that road reported a road rage incident to authorities after two shots were fired into the rear of their vehicle.
Based on witness descriptions from that incident, Shearn said police began searching for a black Dodge Caravan with a smashed-out rear window that had been taped over with a trash bag.
That vehicle was eventually located in South Philadelphia, and White was taken into custody at a traffic stop in the city on February 7 — just two days before Norman was arrested for the vehicle thefts and attempted carjacking in New Jersey.
Pennsylvania State Police went to the Camden County jail to interview Norman on February 9; through their conversation, Norman said he was driving the Dodge during the encounter, while White allegedly fired the weapon that struck the other vehicle.
Pennsylvania charged Norman and White with attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, aggravated assault, violation of the uniform firearms act, being a felon not to possess weapons, reckless endangerment, possession of a gun on the streets of Philadelphia, making terroristic threats, propulsion of a missile, and evidence tampering. Norman was also charged with driving without a license.
Both men are being held in correctional facilities pending trial. Authorities in all three affected jurisdictions said they were glad to have them in custody given the repeat nature of the offenses.
“We’ve noticed an uptick in pointed-gun road-rage incidents on our highways,” Shearn said.
“Our criminal investigators felt so highly that they were going to do it again, that this was going to continue to happen, that they wanted to get them off the streets,” he said.
“Definitely the kind of folks you want to take off the street,” said Cherry Hill Police Chief Robert Kempf.
All persons charged with crimes are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law. An arrest is not a conviction.
