Akron carjacking ends in Richfield
Robert Gibson is facing multiple
charges from three area communities after a carjacking
incident and car chase Dec. 18.
Photo courtesy of
Richfield Police Department
Police in three communities charge
man after pursuit
By Maggie DeMellier
GREATER AKRON — Robert Gibson, 20, of Youngstown, faces charges in Akron, Fairlawn and Richfield following an early morning carjacking Dec. 18, when he reportedly brandished a weapon and stole a woman’s purse and car from a location on Garth Street in Akron.
Akron police spotted the suspect as he sped out of the city in the stolen vehicle. Fairlawn officers clocked him driving 70 mph on West Market Street just before 1 a.m. and attempted to stop him, but he continued through Montrose and went north on Interstate 77. Police radioed a description of the vehicle to surrounding communities, and a Richfield officer identified the vehicle and attempted to stop the driver, who sped north on I-77 reaching speeds of 100 mph.
Farther north on I-77, Richfield
police deployed stop spikes, which deflated the vehicle’s
tires, but the driver continued. He exited I-77 and
drove south in the northbound lanes of Brecksville Road
until he used the vehicle to ram a police SUV. He continued
driving and attempted to ram another police car, which
caused him to spin the vehicle he was
driving into a guard rail and crash. He abandoned the
car and fled on foot until he was apprehended by the
officer who was driving the vehicle he rammed.
Officers recovered a stolen loaded
revolver and the victim’s purse from the vehicle.
Richfield police charged him with felony fleeing and
eluding, vehicular felonious assault on a police officer
and carrying a concealed weapon. Akron police charged
him with aggravated robbery, grand theft auto, willful
fleeing and having a weapon under disability (due to
a prior felony conviction), and he faces charges for
fleeing and eluding in Fairlawn, as well as traffic
violations.
He is being held at the Summit
County Jail.
Officers recovered a loaded revolver
from the vehicle Gibson reportedly had stolen.
Photo courtesy of
Richfield Police Department
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