A 33-year-old D.C. man was sentenced to 12-and-a-half years in prison for a carjacking that led to a chase with the Alexandria Police Department, a hit-and-run and more.
On Tuesday, Donte Tayvon Thomas was sentenced for his convictions for felony carjacking, felony hit-and-run, felony eluding police and falsely identifying himself to law enforcement.
The incident occurred at around 7:30 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 16, 2022, when Thomas carjacked a vehicle from a man who had arrived at work in the West End of the city.
According to office of Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Porter:
The evidence presented in the matter established that around 7:30 in the morning, Thomas followed the victim into the apartment building where he was scheduled to work. Thomas approached the victim, pointed a black firearm at his face, and told him to give him his keys to the black truck that he had just parked outside. The victim gave over his keys at which point Thomas ran from the apartment building and drove away in the truck. Police were called, and while on their way to the scene of the call, they observed the black truck on the road.
When police attempted to stop the black truck, the black truck sped up to rates of speed over 80-mph in the 35-mph zone of Eisenhower Avenue. The black truck was driven erratically through traffic to avoid the police. At one point during the pursuit, the black truck drove the wrong way down a lane of travel. The black truck then struck the truck of another man driving to work, damaging that vehicle’s driver’s side door. The black truck did not stop after this collision.
Finally, the black truck was seen turning onto Metro Road, an isolated area, where police ultimately apprehended Thomas who was hiding in a nearby grassy area. In that grassy area next to Thomas, police located the black firearm and extended magazine. When searched, Thomas had the key to the black truck in his pocket. He provided police with a false name on scene, but ultimately confessed that he was Donte Thomas at police headquarters.
Thomas is a convicted felon, with prior convictions in Washington, DC.
Thomas was sentenced to 12-and-a-half years incarceration with the Virginia Department of Corrections, with additional prison time suspended upon the condition that he undergo supervised probation for five
years after his release, that he have no contact with the victims, not be able to get his driver’s license for one year, and be on uniform good behavior for 15 years. Thomas must also undergo mental health assessments, a substance abuse assessment and go through treatment programs.
“The sentence imposed in this disturbing case both holds the defendant accountable for his intentional
actions and protects our community from further depredation,” Porter said in a statement. “We are extremely fortunate the defendant did not physically injure anyone during his rampage, despite his intentional and violent actions. I would like to thank the Alexandria Police Department for it’s thorough and professional investigation of this matter.”
Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorneys Maana Parcham and Joseph Martin prosecuted the case on the behalf of the Commonwealth.
