Kent man charged in fatal shooting of motorcyclist was caught after chase, police say
A Kent man was arraigned Monday morning in a fatal shooting of a motorcyclist in Cleveland last week.
Rendell Russell Buckhalter, 50, of Spruce Court in Kent, was charged Saturday with first-degree felony aggravated murder and held in jail over the weekend. He was ordered held on a $1 million bond Monday.
While the matter remains under investigation, Cleveland police have charged Buckhalter in the death of Giacumo Desoto, a 33-year-old Youngstown man who recently lived in Painesville and Brooklyn, Ohio, according to his social media account.
Desoto died Thursday in the emergency room at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, according to the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner.
Earlier on Thursday, at 5:39 p.m., a ShotSpotter gunshot detection alert sent Cleveland patrol officers to the 12700 block of Signet Avenue in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood on the city's southeast side.
“While enroute, another call came into police radio for a male possibly shot,” Public Information Officer Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia reported in an email to the Beacon Journal. “On arrival, the victim was found down on the ground next to a motorcycle with multiple gunshot wounds to his body. Officers rendered aid to the victim, the victim was taken to UH by EMS where he was pronounced deceased.”
According to an Aurora police report, officers responded to the city's western limits on West Garfield Road to a pursuit coming in from Twinsburg at a little after midnight on Friday. The vehicle being pursued, a 2009 Subaru, already had three flat tires from spike strips that had been put down in Twinsburg and was being followed by Twinsburg, Bedford and Garfield Heights police. An Aurora police officer then joined in, with speeds estimated at 20 to 30 mph.
Spike strips were put down on West Garfield at West Pioneer Trail, flattening the Subaru's remaining tire.
"After he had no tires left, he pulled into the True North," said Aurora Police Chief Brian Byard on Monday. "He ran into the True North, where the clerk barricaded himself in the office and the suspect barricaded himself in the restroom. Metro SWAT was called out and a perimeter was set up and Metro SWAT went in and got the hostage out. He came out and then the suspect eventually surrendered after a couple hours."
The Subaru's driver, identified in the report as Buckhalter, was turned over to Cleveland police at the scene.
Buckhalter was wanted in Portage County in a crime committed one day before the homicide in Cleveland. Court records allege Buckhalter stole a purse Wednesday from a Ravenna woman who is considered to be in a protected class because of her age. A warrant was issued Friday for his arrest.
Record-Courier reporter Jeffrey Saunders contributed to this article. Reach reporter Doug Livingston at dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3792.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Kent man Rendell Buckhalter charged in Cleveland killing of Giacumo Desoto
