Armed Carjacker Sentenced To Seven Years

Armed Carjacker Sentenced To Seven Years
Armed

SNOW HILL — A Pennsylvania man, arrested last August after carjacking a resort taxi at knifepoint before eventually bailing out of the cab and fleeing into the ocean, was sentenced last week to seven years in jail after pleading guilty to armed carjacking in January.

Ian Edward Keim, 36, of Neville, Pa., pleaded guilty to armed carjacking in Worcester County Circuit Court and a pre-sentence investigation was ordered. Late last year, Keim, through his attorney, entered a plea of not criminally responsible at the time of the alleged offense, but the motion was denied and the case proceeded to trial. Back in court last Thursday, Keim was sentenced to 12 years in jail, all but seven of which were then suspended. He was also placed on supervised probation for two years upon his release.

Around 6:15 p.m. on Aug. 24, 2013, Ocean City Police responded to the area of 118th Street and Assawoman Drive for a reported carjacking incident. The unidentified cab driver told police he picked up a fare, later identified as Keim, at 49th Street and headed north on Coastal Highway. Around 91st Street, Keim grabbed the driver around the neck from behind, brandished a knife and threatened to kill the driver.

The cab driver was able to break loose from Keim’s hold and stopped the cab in the roadway. Keim then got out of the back of the cab and jumped in the front seat and drove off in the stolen vehicle. An off-duty Clarkstown, N.Y. police officer witnessed the incident and picked up the cab driver and together they followed Keim and the stolen taxi north on Coastal Highway while contacting Ocean City Police.

Keim continued north on Coastal Highway to 120th Street and then doubled back and headed south on Assawoman Drive to 18th Street where he abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot toward the beach.

Police officers searched the area for Keim, including in and around the Carousel Hotel during the height of a weekend night. A surf fisherman on the beach observed Keim run into the ocean and directed police to his location. Keim was found kneeling in the surf in the area of 119th Street.

Keim was arrested and charged with armed robbery, robbery, armed carjacking, obtaining and possessing a vehicle by force and violence along with first- and second-degree assault. In January, he pleaded guilty to armed carjacking and was sentenced last week to a total of seven years in jail.