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Police free hostage in Youngstown
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
YOUNGSTOWN
City police shut down an early morning hostage situation, possibly saving the life of a South Side woman in the process.
Clarence Rakes, 54, of East Ravenwood Avenue, has been charged with kidnapping, aggravated assault, aggravated burglary and violation of a protection order. He is being held in the Mahoning County jail and will likely be arraigned in Youngstown Municipal Court on Monday.
The situation leading to Rakes’ arrest began just after 4 a.m. Saturday when a teenage boy and his girlfriend ran from a home in the 400 block of Clearmont Drive and told police Rakes had come to the home, put a knife to the throat of the boy’s mother and threatened to kill the woman.
The woman told police that Rakes, her estranged husband on whom she has a restraining order, came to the house and began to fight with her. She said Rakes pulled out the knife, stole $900 from her and then forced her into a Buick Regal and tried to leave the residence, but the car stalled.
Rakes forced the woman back into the house, but the two teens managed to run out of the house. The teens told police Rakes said he would kill the woman if he heard police coming.
Officers did go to the home, but parked a block away from the house and approached silently. Outside the house police could hear Rakes threatening to kill the woman, using foul language.
Police knocked on the door saying someone was illegally parked and would need to move the stalled Buick, but no one came out of the house. Reports say police, armed with tazers, decided to enter the house through an unlocked back door.
Officers found Rakes in the basement of the home with the woman in a headlock and a knife pressed to her throat. He warned the five officers to leave and began pressing the knife more firmly against the woman, causing her to “bleed profusely.”
Police shot Rakes with two tazers causing him to drop to the floor of the basement. He was taken into custody and transported to St. Elizabeth Health Center for treatment.
The woman was taken to Forum Health Northside Medical Center for treatment of the cuts she received during the standoff.
Police took multiple pictures of the home and collected the $896 from Rakes pants, along with the knife he held to the woman’s throat.