Serial burglar who stole from homes in Abington, Cheltenham, Springfield, Whitemarsh, Upper Gwynedd, Lower Gwynedd, and Horsham receives sentence

On Tuesday, December 19, a resident of Lower Gwynedd witnessed the sentencing of Derrick Carter, a 42-year-old serial burglar from Philadelphia who broke into his family’s home just before Thanksgiving in 2021.

The victim told us that the intrusion ended in a physical altercation after Carter tried to leave with multiple stolen items.

“We were victims of the crime. I was home at the time and he struck me with a crowbar. We have video surveillance of him coming in and leaving,” the victim said. “He had hit around 20 houses in the Ambler, Upper Dublin, and Abington areas.”

About five weeks later, Carter was picked up by police. Almost two years later, he decided to plead guilty.

His sentence is 12-30 years in prison. He won’t be eligible for early release until he serves a mandatory 12 years.

“He came in shackled, they agreed to the plea bargain. I gave a victim impact statement and that was pretty much it,” the victim said.

Carter was also arrested in 2012. According to The Reporter, Upper Dublin police believed he had been burglarizing homes for a couple of years in Cheltenham, Springfield, Whitemarsh, Upper Gwynedd, Lower Gwynedd, Horsham and Abington.

NBC10 also covered his arrest, noting that he had stolen more than $24,000 in jewelry from a Lower Merion home just days prior, and was on the radar of a multi-jurisdiction burglary task force since he was charged in a late 2011 burglary in Philadelphia.

He led police on a high-speed chase down Route 309 before being apprehended.

Carter spent years in prison and repeated his offense about four months after he was released. He was arrested again in May 2022 after burglarizing two homes in broad daylight.

“My daughter was home and witnessed the whole thing. My sons didn’t see anything, so we’re keeping our anonymity,” the victim said.

“Credit to the police officers and detectives. There was blood DNA on our carpet. It lab-matched with him,” the victim said.

The victim’s subpoena can be found below: