2 men chase down teenage pair believed to be car thieves
Teens forced into trunk of car, driven to police station.
Two men and CLEVELAND — a woman are accused of chasing down two 14-year-old suspected car thieves, forcing them into the trunk of their car at gunpoint and driving them to the Cleveland Police Fourth District headquarters, according to police.
Kenyatta Ware II, 21, George Barnes, 29, and Shelia Beale, 49, are all charged with felonious assault and kidnapping. All three have been arrested and are awaiting their first court appearance.
It is unknown if the two 14-year-old boys have been formally charged, but they were arrested on suspicion of grand theft of a motor vehicle, according to police reports.
The incident began when the two teens stole a 2013 Chrysler 200 from Garfield Heights, according to police. The car belonged to the mother of one of the men who got arrested.
The trio tracked the car through a GPS locator inside the car, according to police. They caught up with the stolen car about 5 p.m. on Anita Kennedy Avenue and East 70th Street, police said.
The men got out of cars, pulled out guns and told the teens: “You stole the wrong car ...” according to police reports. Barnes then fired several gunshots into the car, police reports and court records say.
The teens sped off with the trio following in their cars, according to police. The teens hit several utility poles during the chase.
The teens jumped a curb on East 80th Street and Bessemer Avenue and crashed into a townhouse, causing extensive damage to both the home and the car, according to police reports. No one was inside the home at the time of the crash, police said.
Barnes and Ware then ordered the teens out of the car at gunpoint, according to police. They punched the two teens, knocking them to the ground, then stomped on them, according to police.
They ordered the teens at gunpoint to get in the trunk of one of the cars, police said. The teens complied and Ware and Beale drove the teens to the Fourth District headquarters, police said.
Ware and Beale were arrested at the police station. Barnes drove off and was later arrested near the scene of the crash, according to police.
Ware admitted to attacking the teens and Beale admitted to forcing them inside the trunk, according to police reports.
The teens were taken to University Hospital for treatment.