Man pleads to stealing car with 3 young kids inside
AKRON, Ohio (WJW) — A man charged with kidnapping after stealing a vehicle from a fast food drive-thru while three young children were inside has pleaded guilty.
Mark E. Carlson, 45, of Cuyahoga Falls, was indicted in August 2023 on nearly two dozen felony counts including abduction, grand theft of a motor vehicle and robbery, among others.
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On Friday, April 12, he pleaded guilty to three first-degree felony counts of kidnapping, four second-degree felony counts of robbery, one second-degree felony count of felonious assault and one third-degree felony count of failure to comply with a police order, according to information from the Summit County Prosecutor’s Office.
It happened on Aug. 3 in Akron. Carlson earlier had carjacked another vehicle in Akron, which ultimately ran out of gas in Green. He then forced his way into a woman’s vehicle while it was in a Taco Bell drive-thru.
He crashed that car into the building, then let a 6-year-old and 5-year-old out of the car, but continued on with a 2-year-old still inside, according to authorities. He later let the 2-year-old out of the car at a convenience store along Massillon Road before getting on Interstate 77.
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Summit County sheriff’s deputies chased the car back to Akron, near the intersection of Shelby and Evers avenues, where Carlson got out and fled on foot. He was caught after a foot chase.
His sentencing date has not yet been set.
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