After a foot chase while serving an arrest warrant Thursday, police arrested a second suspect in the violent Craiglist robbery that left a Hartford pastor unconscious in October.
Hartford police and the United States Marshal's Violent Fugitive Task Force spotted Rushawn Carroll, 24, of Hartford, in the passenger seat of a car on Chestnut Street in Hartford on Jan. 28 at about 4:26 p.m. Authorities had an active felony arrest warrant out for him due to his suspected part in the street robbery of Pastor Luis Borges, 54, right outside his church, Assembleia De Deus, at 106 New Park Ave. on Oct. 10.
Borges found an iPhone 6 advertised for $400 on Craigslist and had arranged to meet the seller outside his church that day, police said. But when Borges turned over the money to the seller, Raheem Rankine, 20, a second man, who police have now identified as Carroll, came up and punched him in the head, police said.
When police responded to the incident, they found the pastor on the ground. He had hit his head on the pavement and was disoriented, according to police. He was transported to Hartford Hospital and treated for minor injuries.
Police previously arrested Rankine were looking for the second man for months.
When authorities observed Carroll in the car on Chestnut Street Thursday, Hartford detectives radioed for additional patrols. As the car he was in turned east on Pliny Street, a patrol unit was heading west on that road. When Carroll saw the police cruiser, he bailed out of the vehicle he was in and ran with police chasing him, police said. While fleeing police, he discarded a pellet gun that looked like a real firearm, police said.
Hartford detectives and a deputy U.S. marshal apprehended him near 206 Mather Street, but then Carroll punched the marshal in the face, police said. A struggle ensued and Hartford detectives eventually handcuffed him. Carroll was combative throughout the encounter and spit at officers multiple times, police said.
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The deputy marshal cut his hands while jumping fences in the chase and required stitches.
The day of the robbery in October, the assailants had run off, but the pastor's adult daughter was able to snap a photo of one of the robbers before her father was assaulted. The photo, as well as one another witness snapped of the car the men were in, helped police locate Rankine, who the car was registered to, police said. His phone number matched the one associated with the Craigslist ad, according to his arrest warrant.
When police checked the Facebook page in question, listed under "RahRah Finessa Commah," they noticed that the man looked like the one in the photo the pastor's family provided, down to the same gray sweatshirt with FLY on the front in at least one of his Facebook photos.
"What we put on the internet is preserved essentially for eternity. It's very difficult to take back something that's put out there," Hartford Police Lt. Brandon O'Brien said.
After Rankine was arrested, the pastor's son, Luis Peter Borges told NBC Connecticut "I feel better. can actually sleep knowing that the case is actually moving forward."
The family positively identified Rankine from a photo lineup and police obtained an arrest warrant for him.
On Oct. 17, investigators learned Rankine was hiding at 22 Belden Street in East Hartford and shooting task force detectives monitoring the home spotted him through a window, police said. East Hartford police helped them enter the home and take Rankine into custody. He was charged with first-degree robbery.
Luis Peter Borges previously told NBC Connecticut he was frustrated the second suspect was still on the run.
"I get frustrated that he's still out there on the loose. Freedom, it just really ticks me off," Luis Peter Borges, the pastor's son, said.
Now that suspect, Carroll has been arrested. In addition to being charged with first-degree robbery and conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery in the October violent robbery of pastor, Hartford police also charged Carroll with interfering with police, assault on police and having weapons in a motor vehicle after Thursday's chase.
Police warn others to beware of fake listings on Craiglist and remind residents that the police station parking lot is a designated safe zone for all social media transactions.
"The police department's open 24-hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days of the year, holidays included," O'Brien said.
