Manhunt defendant pleads guilty

Staff report

CLEVELAND

A man who fired at police during a chase and was shot in Youngstown the next day by a member of a U.S. marshals task force has pleaded guilty in federal court to assault on a federal officer, possession of a firearm in connection with an offense of violence and failure to register as a sex offender.

A charge of being a felon in possession of ammunition will be dismissed at sentencing.

Luis Cruz Ramos, 30, entered his plea Wednesday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate William H. Baughman Jr.

He will be sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Christopher A. Boyko at 11 a.m. Nov. 8 and faces a maximum of 65 years in prison.

Ramos bolted from Campbell police March 31 when they tried to arrest him on a warrant from Puerto Rico on the failure-to-register charge.

He then led police on a chase that stopped on Interstate 680 south near a Boardman cemetery.

During the chase, Ramos rammed Campbell police cruisers and fired from his van at least twice at Youngstown police, once hitting a cruiser and another time firing at officers trying to put stop sticks on the freeway. There were no injuries in the chase.

Ramos jumped out of his van and eluded a massive manhunt until the next day, when marshals saw him walking in the Maywood Drive area on the city’s South Side.

Marshals said Ramos drew a gun when they tried to arrest him during a foot chase, and a member of the marshals task force shot him in the leg.

He was released April 4 from St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital and jailed under $5 million bond.

Ramos had been on the run from law enforcement since 2013, when he was charged with rape in Puerto Rico.