August 19, 2026
Public domain/Wikimedia Commons
Basir Blow, 26, assaulted correction officers who attempted to confiscate a contraband phone from him at the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia, pictured above.
A Philadelphia man who committed a carjacking and later assaulted two correction officers with their own pepper spray pleaded guilty to both crimes in federal court Tuesday.
Basir Blow, 26, was initially charged following the 2025 theft of a Jeep Grand Cherokee that was parked near 55th and Catharine streets. According to court documents, he threatened the driver at gunpoint on April 3 with the help of co-defendant Janisha Shakelford, 24. After pistol-whipping the victim in the head, Blow took their keys and drove off without Shakelford, who had exited the vehicle.
Police identified and followed the Jeep after the driver called 911. A brief high-speed chase ended when Blow crashed the car into a pole at Girard and Lancaster avenues, roughly 2 1/2 miles from the scene of the crime.
Blow was arrested the day of the incident. (Shakelford was, too, and likewise pleaded guilty.) But he was charged again this year for an assault committed inside the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia, where he was held during the carjacking court proceedings.
As recounted in a plea memorandum, Blow and his cellmate reacted violently when a correction officer discovered them using a mobile phone. Despite orders, they refused to give up the contraband. In the ensuing fight, Blow broke the phone, punched the officer in the head and upper body and stole the officer's pepper spray. He sprayed the officer and another who arrived as backup.
Blow now could face stiff sentences for both crimes. The maximum possible prison term for the carjacking is life imprisonment. For the assault, he could receive up to 66 years in prison and three years of parole. Blow is due for sentencing on Dec. 21.
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