CLEVELAND, Ohio – The video captured more than two terrifying minutes of a 14-year-old boy preying on a woman who was walking her dogs.
He ambushed the 61-year-old, yanked the keys of her 2010 Kia Forte from her hand, rifled through her car, held a gun on her and then fought her off before he drove off in her vehicle, the footage shows.
The youth’s 17-year-old friend also pointed a gun at the woman’s head, kicked one of her dogs and then left her as she staggered away at the Thurgood Marshall Recreation Center on Hough Avenue, the video shows.
The attack Oct. 31 was part of a daylong crime wave engineered by a boy in middle school. Less than three hours later, he and the 17-year-old stole a 2019 Hyundai Elantra from a parking garage at Cleveland State University, according to charges filed in the case. The car contained a book bag and a set of golf clubs valued at $1,000.
Cleveland police said the younger boy’s crimes that day were part of dozens that he is accused of committing. Records show he has had four cases in juvenile court in the past two years. He failed at therapy, probation, mentoring and social service programs, according to the records.
Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley’s office has now filed a discretionary bindover motion. That seeks to have a juvenile court judge decide whether the boy, based on the allegations, will be tried as an adult. If his case is bound over, the youth would be one of the youngest offenders charged in Common Pleas Court in recent years.
Prosecutors are also seeking to have the 17-year-old charged as an adult in the case.
Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer obtained surveillance videos of two incidents through a public records request. The footage shows the two youths attacking the woman during the carjacking and an attempt days later by the 17-year-old to run over two girls at a nearby intersection on the East Side.
The first video shows how the two youths broke into the woman’s Kia as she walked her dogs near the recreation center on Hough Avenue on Oct. 31. They smashed her car windows and tried unsuccessfully to start the car, according to prosecutors.
As the woman returned to her car from her walk, she noticed the damage. That’s when the 14-year-old ambushed her and grabbed her keys, the video shows.
The teens passed the weapon between them as they tormented the woman and tried to make off with her car, according to the footage and prosecutors. As she attempted to fight back with what appears to be an umbrella, the youths drew the gun closer to her, the video shows.
As the 14-year-old struggled for control of the car, the 17-year-old kicked one of the victim’s dogs, according to the video. The younger boy finally started the car and drove off, the footage indicates.
The 17-year-old walked away, leaving the woman alone and shaken. Her two dogs chased after her as she sought help. Prosecutors said the 14-year-old picked up the older boy a short distance away and sped off.
A short time later, the youths drove to Cleveland State, where they stole the Elantra that was parked at a garage on Prospect Avenue. The car contained the book bag and golf clubs, prosecutors said.
A second video captured the older youth Nov. 3, when he drove in another stolen car, prosecutors said. He pulled up to two girls walking at Hough and East 89th Street. Prosecutors said the youth told one of the girls to hand over a ski mask that she had.
When the girl refused, prosecutors said, the youth drove after the girl and her friend, chasing them in the car as the girls ran into the intersection. The video shows that the car narrowly missed one of the girls as it careened along the roadway.
Juvenile court records show the 14-year-old’s file indicates that officials offered the boy several programs to get him help. He appeared to be doing well in one program last summer. He then left it and never returned, records show.
His past even surprised Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb.
“Instead of taking advantage of those opportunities, he chose to continue his criminality,” Bibb said in a statement after the youth’s arrest earlier this month.
“Residents are fed up. Businesses are fed up, and I am fed up. It is time that he be held fully accountable for the crimes he has committed, and I’m hopeful the court system will do just that.”