One of the men involved in a shootout at 40th St. and Locust Walk in November of 2010 was sentenced to 170 months in federal prison on Tuesday.
Leslie Mosby helped his friend, Karl Sappleton, carjack a car in West Philadelphia just before 3 a.m. on Nov. 21, 2010. When the two crashed the vehicle on the western edge of campus, a shootout occurred at 40th Street and Locust Walk.
Mosby pled guilty to charges in federal court in January after being charged with robbery of a motor vehicle and the possession and use of two different firearms.
“I am happy that the court took into consideration the impact that this incident had on our community’s physical safety and psyche,” said Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush.
On the night in question, Mosby ran into Sappleton on a bus in West Philadelphia. When they got off near 50th and Race streets, they spotted a woman double parked in her silver 2000 Cadillac Deville.
Sappleton, who was low on money and carrying two guns at the time, forced the woman to exit her car, and the two got in the vehicle. The car crashed into a concrete barrier at 40th Street and Locust Walk, which prevent vehicles from entering Locust Walk, after driving at high speeds and being pursued by police.
Both suspects attempted to flee across High Rise Field. Mosby dropped his weapon and was apprehended by police on the 3900 block of Walnut Street.
Sappleton fired at police officers before being struck with a bullet. Authorities took him to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania where he was pronounced dead. The Philadelphia District Attorney cleared all four Penn Police officers involved in Sappleton’s shooting of any wrongdoing in January 2011.
Mosby and Sappleton were both 18 at the time the incident occurred. There were no injuries to anyone in the Penn community as a result of the encounter with police.
Mosby’s case was transferred to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in November 2011 because carjacking falls under federal jurisdiction.
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