Maryland Attorney General, Baltimore Police say local gang behind dozens of carjackings.
The group — four young adults and two teens — have been indicted. The adults face dozens of charges, and one carjacking was tied to a murder.
A group of teens and young adults have been indicted as part of a sprawling case that ties them to dozens of carjackings, nine commercial burglaries, ATM theft, shootings and a murder all committed — over a 13-month span, authorities said Tuesday.
The group, four adults and two juveniles, committed at least nine commercial robberies, 35 armed carjackings and eight attempted carjackings throughout the Baltimore area, mostly from April 2022 to March 2023. An attempted carjacking of a ride-share driver in November 2022 ended with one of the passengers being killed after members of the group shot into the car as the driver fled, according to court records.
Most of the carjackings and the murder occurred in Baltimore City, however the group is charged in Baltimore County. The Maryland Attorney General’s Office’s Organized Crime Unit sought the indictments under the state’s gang statute, meaning the cases could be filed in any jurisdiction where offenses occurred. Authorities declined to name the group.
Most of the carjackings targeted people who were sitting in their cars or stopped at red lights all over the city and county, according to the indictment. Oftentimes, members of the group would use another car, sometimes one they had stolen earlier, to try to box their target in, then get out with guns drawn.
Carjackings generally are down compared to previous years — Baltimore recorded a 20% decrease in 2023 compared to 2022, when there were more than 700.
“We do not tolerate the reckless behavior that plagues our streets and changes innocent lives forever,” Attorney General Anthony Brown said.
Investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, along with Baltimore Police officers, used surveillance videos, witness statements and ballistics evidence from shootings to piece the crimes together and connect the group to each incident, officials said Tuesday. Searches of defendants’ homes recovered firearms, identifying documents belonging to various victims, clothes worn by the suspects, and car keys consistent with the types of vehicles that were stolen.
The adults charged are: Lovelle Little, 19, of Baltimore; Kevin Mills Jr., 21, of Prince George’s County; Twan Ellis, 19, of Baltimore; Anecio Rodriguez, 19, of Baltimore. Of the group, Ellis faces the fewest charges, with 67 counts against him. Little faces the most, upwards of 260 counts. Rodriguez is the only one charged with murder, related to the ride-share shooting.
All four are being held without bail. The quartet was indicted in October, but the case remained sealed until Ellis was arrested in late January. He was scheduled to have an initial court appearance Monday, but the hearing was waived, online court records show.
Police Commissioner Richard Worley called the investigation “time consuming” and “complex,” but said more will need to be done.
“Unfortunately, they aren’t the only four criminals in Baltimore,” Worley said.
The two other defendants are under 18, although one is charged as an adult. The Baltimore Banner generally does not name juveniles charged with crimes. One of the teens is charged with attempted murder, but his records are not public because it is still possible his case was sent to juvenile court. Authorities did not release any details about the juveniles.
“We want [young people] to surround themselves with the right people and help build our city up, not tear it down,” Mayor Brandon Scott said. “But when people continuously make the choice over and over again, we can and will hold them accountable.”
The group’s first alleged carjacking happened April 24, 2022, with the taking of a woman’s Nissan Sentra at a red light in the 1500 block of North Bentalou Street.
Several months and 12 carjackings later, the group allegedly attempted to rob a ride-share driver in the Reservoir Hill neighborhood. Earlier that day, Nov. 3, 2022, the group had allegedly stolen a Nissan Altima at gunpoint in the 2300 block of Eutaw Place.
In Reservoir Hill, the group, using a different Nissan Altima from the one they are accused of stealing earlier that day, tried to cut off the ride-share driver, who had three passengers in the car. The driver tried to escape, and authorities say Rodriguez fired a 9mm handgun into the car. One of the passengers, Delaka Augins, was killed.
A month later, on Dec. 10, the group had allegedly carjacked a person in the 3900 block of Bareva Road. After that, they drove across the city, according to court records, to the Baltimore County border on Patapsco Avenue near Hammonds Ferry Road and tried to carjack another person. That person also tried to escape and was shot in the head, but survived.
Officers compared shell casings from that shooting in the 2200 block of Rosalie Road with the fatal shooting in Reservoir Hill. The casings matched, according to the indictment.
The group had a series of prolific stretches, prosecutors said, often committing several crimes over a one- or two-day period. One stretch came Dec. 16 and 17, 2022. Over that span, they are charged with carjacking four people at gunpoint, stealing at least three other cars, robbing a gas station and committing two other robberies. They tried a fifth carjacking at a different service station but couldn’t steal the car because it was out of gas, according to court records.
They are charged with carjacking a Nissan Rogue on Christmas Day, holding its four occupants at gunpoint. Afterwards, they drove to a deli in the 3400 block of Wilkens Avenue, threw bricks through a window and stole an ATM, according to the indictment.
On Dec. 30, group members allegedly carjacked a man in the 2200 block of Brookfield Avenue, attempted a carjacking in the 4000 block of Fleet Street, and broke into a cigar shop at 503 W. Coldspring Lane. They are accused of carjacking another person in the 3700 block of Falls Road and pistol-whipping the driver, who was sleeping in the car. Later that day, they allegedly approached a man sitting in his driveway and robbed him at gunpoint, stealing two cars, laptops and a phone from his house north of Pimlico Race Course.
The group’s last carjacking, according to the indictment, came in August 2023, when they held a person at gunpoint in the 900 block of West Patapsco Avenue while he was washing his car.