Man charged in Peoria carjacking in which a man was shot

A suspect has been charged for an Aug. 8 carjacking in which the car owner was shot in the leg in Peoria in the parking lot of a Target located at 9350 W. Northern Ave, according to a press release from the Arizona District Attorney’s Office.

Adonijah Josiah Ortega, a 19-year-old from Phoenix, was charged with carjacking, along with using a firearm in a violent crime and felon in possession of a firearm, according to the Attorney’s Office.

According to the Attorney’s Office, Ortega is suspected of approaching the owner of the car, which Peoria police said was a 2004 Toyota 4-Runner, pointing a semi-automatic handgun at the owner and telling the owner to give up his wallet and keys.

He is then suspected of hitting the car owner several times in the head and shooting his gun twice, hitting the car owner once in his right thigh, prosecutors say, before fleeing the scene in the 4-Runner.

The District Attorney’s Office said the car owner limped into the Target store, where other citizens helped him until paramedics arrived and transported him to the hospital. The car owner sustained several lacerations to his head in addition to the gunshot wound.

Officers with the Phoenix Police Department discovered the stolen car unoccupied in the area of East Dunlap Ave between 18th and 19th streets at about 6:45 a.m. the next day, Aug. 9, according to Peoria police spokesperson Sgt. Brandon Sheffert.

Carjacking alone has a maximum sentence of 25 years, with 10-year maximum sentences for the other two crimes Ortega is charged for, according to the Attorney’s Office.

The FBI is involved in the investigation of this case, along with Phoenix and Peoria police, according to the press release.

Reach breaking news reporter Sam Burdette at sburdette@gannett.com or on Twitter @SuperSafetySam

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Man charged in Peoria carjacking in which one man was shot