Two men charged in Cuyahoga Falls, Streetsboro carjackings
Federal officials, working with local police, say they’ve cracked the cases of three carjackings that happened within hours on Aug. 9 in Summit, Portage and Cuyahoga counties.
Two men from Maple Heights face federal carjacking and firearm charges and remain in custody. Police have not said whether they suspect the men are behind other recent carjackings in Greater Akron.
Donteze Congress, 18, was arrested Tuesday, court records show, and his co-defendant, Thomas Donegan Williams, 18, was arrested the week before.
Attorneys for the men said Thursday it’s too soon to comment on either case.
Carjackers strike in Cuyahoga Falls
Court records filed in Congress’s case show how technology, social media and old-fashioned policing led them to the men charged.
According to an affidavit written by Cuyahoga Falls narcotics detective Brent Barbe, who is assigned to an Akron-area federal task force, the investigation unfolded like this:
About 11:30 a.m. on Aug. 9, Cuyahoga Falls police responded to Third Street and Bailey Road after a reported carjacking.
A 22-year-old woman told them she was driving north on Third in her Jeep when a dark-colored vehicle behind her “gently” rear-ended her bumper. When she got out of her Jeep to assess the damage, she said two men approached, one with a pistol.
“Where are your keys?” they repeatedly asked her, the affidavit said.
When she told them the keys were still in the Jeep, both suspects got into the Jeep and drove off, throwing the woman’s bookbag out of the car but taking her laptop and credit cards.
The vehicle the thieves had been riding in followed the stolen Jeep.
Similar carjackings hit Solon
Hours later, just before 2 p.m., Solon police responded to a similar carjacking of a Volvo in that city. A man, identified as a 62-year-old rabbi by local media, was driving when another car struck his Volvo from behind.
When the rabbi got out, two men, both armed with guns, demanded his keys and took off.
Solon police contacted the OnStar tracking service for the Volvo and discovered it was in Garfield Heights.
Garfield Heights police stopped the Volvo as it was backing into a parking spot outside a barbershop there. A man inside the car ran and police from multiple departments converged, setting up a perimeter to find him.
"Eventually, after multiple foot pursuits, the male was apprehended after being located hiding under boxes in a staircase of a residence,” the affidavit said.
He was identified as Williams, court records said, and when police searched his pockets, they found a credit card that belonged to the Cuyahoga Falls woman who had been carjacked earlier that day.
Police said they found a loaded Glock handgun in the Volvo and that Williams dropped the keys to the car as he ran.
When Cuyahoga Falls police went to Solon police headquarters to interview to Williams, Solon police told them Williams had confessed to both the Solon and Cuyahoga Falls carjackings, the affidavit said.
But when Cuyahoga Falls police interviewed Williams, he initially denied the Cuyahoga Falls carjacking and said others gave him the woman’s credit card so he could buy gas to put into another vehicle in Bedford Heights.
Video Williams took on his own phone, however, would betray him, the affidavit shows.
The video showed Williams and another man, both with guns, riding in the woman's stolen Jeep five minutes after the Cuyahoga Falls carjacking, police said.
After Cuyahoga Falls police showed the video to Williams, he confessed, the affidavit said. He was taken into federal custody Aug. 16.
Williams' phone also led police to Congress, the affidavit showed.
Among other things, it contained an Instagram chat thread between Williams and Congress that showed Congress was involved in the carjacking of the Volvo. It also showed a video of Williams, Congress and another man in the Volvo 15 minutes after the carjacking.
Woman fights back against carjackers in Streetsboro
Meanwhile, as the investigation continued, Cuyahoga Falls police learned there was a third similar attempted carjacking across the county line in Streetsboro Aug. 9. It happened in between the Cuyahoga Falls and Solon incidents.
In that case, a woman was driving a Jeep east on Russell Drive just before 1 p.m. when she noticed a dark-colored SUV speed up behind her. It’s unclear if the SUV bumped her Jeep, but the woman said the SUV pulled up next to her when she parked at Planet Fitness.
As the woman got out of her Jeep, three men with guns approached. The woman turned off her Jeep and briefly fought with the would-be carjackers until they left her and her Jeep and got back into the SUV and left.
On Aug. 15, six days after the carjackings, a SWAT team arrested Congress at a Maple Heights home where they found multiple firearms, the affidavit said.
Congress, the affidavit said, waived his Miranda rights and confessed that he was part of the carjackings in Cuyahoga Falls, Solon and Streetsboro.
He was arrested on federal charges Tuesday.
It’s unclear if the men may have been involved in other recent carjackings, including a 38-year-old Akron woman who was carjacked by a man with a gun Aug. 6 as she pulled into her Firestone Park garage.
An armed man took off with that woman’s car.
On Aug. 17, there was an attempted carjacking that appears more similar to the incidents in which Williams and Congress face charges.
The Aug. 17 attempted carjacking happened in Akron’s West Hill neighborhood near Akron Family Restaurant. In that case, a 58-year-old Akron woman told police a dark-colored SUV pulled up behind her at West Market Street and West Street around 8 p.m.
A man got out of the SUV and put a gun to her head, demanding she leave her car, she told police. When the woman refused, the man struck her. He ran off, however, when she doused him with pepper spray.
Police at the time offered tips to avoid carjackings or to stay safe if you are carjacked.
Tips to avoid getting carjacked
Stay aware of who and what is around you.
Park in well-lit areas, close to entrances and exits wherever you go.
Don’t look at your phone or other distractions while walking to or from your vehicle.
Don’t hesitate to ask someone to walk you to your vehicle.
What to do if you fear you are being carjacked
Pull over in a well-lit area where there are other people if someone bumps into your car.
Trust your instincts. If you suspect something is wrong, immediately call 911 and start driving toward the nearest police station.
Don’t fight back.
Don’t stay in the vehicle with the carjacker.
Call 911 as soon as you’re in a safe spot. Tell the dispatcher any details, including a description of the carjacker, what type of vehicle was stolen and which direction the vehicle headed.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Men charged in carjackings in Cuyahoga Falls, Streetsboro
