UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio — A 14-year-old boy was arrested in connection to an attempted carjacking that happened in the parking lot of Target in University Heights the day after Christmas.
University Heights police confirmed Tuesday that a 14-year-old boy from Cleveland was arrested and taken into custody on December 29.
The boy was wanted for allegedly brandishing a firearm at a driver who was sitting in his car in the parking lot of Target. The 28-year-old South Euclid man, identified as the victim, said a male opened his car door and told the victim to give him his keys for else he would shoot him.
The South Euclid resident said he pushed his hand out toward the gun “to get the male away.”
According to police, the South Euclid resident said the male stepped away, at which point the victim closed his car door and sped away.
Police said the boy has been charged for his involvement in several other carjackings that happened in the City of Cleveland. Charges are expected to be filed in Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court.
News 5 Cleveland has reached out to a spokesperson for the Cleveland Division of Police to determine if the 14-year-old boy arrested in the attempted parking lot carjacking was connected to the Little Italy carjacking that injured a woman.
Speaking to News 5, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Mike O’Malley recently said carjackings in 2021 were up 22% from 2020. He said there were 433 carjackings in Cleveland alone last year.
Although the 2021 carjacking statistics released by the prosecutor's officer are only for Cleveland, the FBI has seen an uptick in these crimes in Northeast Ohio suburbs as well.
RELATED: 'It will destroy this city' — Carjackings spike in 2021 in Cleveland, other Midwest cities
Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu Live and more. We're also on Amazon Alexa devices. Learn more about our streaming options here.
