Man indicted on charges of holding his wife hostage

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

A Mahoning County grand jury indicted a man accused of holding his wife hostage earlier this month.

Clarence Rakes, 58, of Clearmount Drive, faces two counts of aggravated burglary and single counts of kidnapping, felonious assault, resisting arrest and obstructing official business.

According to police, Rakes held a knife to the throat of his wife early April 3 and threatened to kill her. The woman’s son and his girlfriend ran out of the Clearmount Drive house and called police.

Officers found Rakes in the basement holding a knife to the woman’s throat. They used a stun gun to subdue him.

A couple of days after the arrest, city Prosecutor Jay Macejko called Rakes “a danger to the public.” Macejko said Rakes has an extensive criminal record that spans three decades including a previous hostage situation involving Rakes and the same woman.

Macejko said Rakes broke into the same woman’s home in 1999 and held her hostage at gunpoint along with some juveniles.

Rakes served more than four years in prison after the first hostage situation.

If convicted on all charges, Rakes, who is in the county jail, could spend the next 29 years in prison.

The grand jury Thursday also indicted these people on the following charges:

Edward Mickel, 23, Princeton Avenue, failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer.

Earl Charity, 24, Delaware Avenue and Canfield Road, felonious assault, improper discharge of a weapon into a habitation and illegal possession of a weapon.

Daniel Campbell, 29, Park Avenue, receiving stolen property.

Carshra Bradley, 25, Tampa Avenue, two counts of felonious assault.

Lashonna Shakoor, 20, Dogwood Lane, felonious assault.

Shanique McGee, 20, Buckeye Court, felonious assault and violation of a protection order.

Krystal Wolfe, 21, Kensington Street, breaking and entering, receiving stolen property.

Marco Cardenas, 21, Kensington Street, breaking and entering, receiving stolen property.

John Bryant, 50, Roslyn Street, two counts of menacing by stalking.

Patricia Hunt, 42, Radcliffe Drive, robbery.

Jawan Starkey, 30, Lansdowne Boulevard, theft.

Michael Hover Jr., Paisley Road, theft.

William DeCola, 25, North Meridian Road, felonious assault.

Matthew Lombel, 28, Timber Ridge Drive, Austintown, theft and illegal possession of a weapon.

The grand jury declined to indict Sonji Atkinson of Rhoda Avenue on a drug possession charge.