A carjacking suspect’s case was dismissed without a probable cause finding before DC Superior Court Judge Robert Hildum on Nov. 4 after a defense attorney showed that the victim gave false statements.
Kavon Phillips, 27, was initially charged with unarmed carjacking for his alleged involvement in a carjacking on the 1900 block of 8th Street NW on June 29, 2025.
Phillips was alleged to have wrested control of a moped by pushing the driver off and driving away, according to court documents. He was alleged to have crashed a short time later at the intersection of 9th and P Streets, NW while being pursued by several other moped drivers, before fleeing the scene on foot, according to court documents.
At the start of the hearing, Phillips and his defense attorney, Patrick Nowak, declined a plea agreement. Among other terms, the plea would have downgraded the charge from carjacking – which requires a person to steal a motor vehicle by force or violence – to theft.
After Phillips rejected the plea, the prosecution worked to prove to Judge Hildum that there was enough evidence to move ahead with the case. To substantiate the probable cause argument, the prosecution brought the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) detective assigned to the case to testify.
The officer testified that he did not conduct interviews on scene but that the victim had told a responding officer that the suspect, who prosecutors allege is Phillips, pushed him off his scooter while he was sitting on it and drove away.
The prosecution played security footage allegedly showing the suspect’s crashing the moped at the intersection of 9th and P Streets, NW as several other people on mopeds followed close behind him. The prosecution then played a video of the suspect running down a nearby alley.
The detective, who participated in Phillips’ arrest and later interviewed him, said that Philips denied committing the carjacking but had admitted to fearing the other moped riders following him. The detective also said Phillips admitted to being under the influence on the day of the carjacking.
Phillips’ attorney, Patrick Nowak, focused on the sources of evidence that the prosecution and detective had brought to the case. Nowak confirmed that the detective had no evidence, besides the victim’s testimony, proving that Phillips pushed the victim off the scooter. Nowak then produced his own security footage which showed the scene of the alleged carjacking.
In the footage, the victim can be seen leaving his running moped unattended and entering a building. Shortly after entering the building, the suspect can be seen hopping on the moped and driving away.
“The complainant was in the building, right,” Nowak said. “The complainant wasn’t pushed from the moped,” Nowak asked.
After watching the video, the prosecution maintained that the new evidence supported his claims that the defendant had committed the carjackings.
“It frankly supports probable cause,” the prosecutor said.
Nowak pushed back against the prosecution’s assertion that the video strengthened their case. Nowak argued that carjacking charges required that the defendant physically wrest control of the vehicle from the victim, and that the footage clearly showed that there was no struggle for the moped.
“It’s not consistent with the law, and they’ve brought forth charges that are inappropriate,” Nowak said. “The basis of this case is objectively false information that was provided to the government.”
Judge Hildum sided with Nowak.
“I find it very difficult, under these circumstances, to find probable cause for carjacking,” Judge Hildum said before dismissing the case.
No further dates were set.
