GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – A man currently behind bars in Illinois is accused of carjacking a man in Brown County back in 2013.
24-year-old Akiel W. Davis-Rodgers is charged with felony counts of armed robbery with threat of force, armed carjacking and false imprisonment.
According to the criminal complaint, the victim went to the De Pere Police Department back in August 2013 to complain about a robbery.
The victim told police that earlier in the day, he had stopped at a gas station at the intersection of Highway 41 and County Highway S. He allegedly went inside the station to buy something, and when he came out he say a red minivan parked next to him.
Officers were told by the victim that he saw a man standing outside of the van and looked to be searching for someone. When the man spoke, “He had sort of a Jamaican style accent.”
The man went up to him and asked if he had a spare tire he could use. The victim said yes and they looked at the spare tire and both realized it was too small for the van. Afterward, the man asked if he could use the victim’s cell phone and he obliged.
He appeared to make a call but there was no conversation, according to the complaint. The man then asked the victim if he would give him, “A ride to the next town.” The victim said yes and the stranger drove his van around the back of the station and parked it.
The man gets in the vehicle and they drive onto Highway 41 heading north towards De Pere. While driving, the stranger appeared to be trying to make small talk. The victim gets off at the Scheuring Road exit and the stranger asked if he could be, “Dropped off at the next gas station near the intersection.”
At that point, the complaint states, the stranger allegedly removes a knife from his right side pants pocket. It was described as a crescent shaped knife with two blades. After showing the knife, the stranger directed the victim to get back on the highway.
The victim told the man he needed to go through the roundabout and the man replied, “No funny business.” They drove north on Highway 41 and the man kept saying, “Keep driving until I tell you to stop.”
The stranger allegedly grabbed the victim’s cell phone and tried, “To look at Maps on it.” He told the victim that, “As long as he cooperated he would not be hurt.”
The complaint states that the man kept saying he was, “Trying to get to Milwaukee because his daughter had been kidnapped and he could not go to the police.”
However, the route the armed stranger forced the victim to drive included Highway 41, I-43, Highway 172 and then to Riverside Drive and onto Highway 57. They drove south on Highway 57 and the stranger then told the victim to find a road and turn around.
The vehicle turned onto Midway Road and they drove that for a while. Then, the stranger told the victim to stop the car and get out. The victim allegedly saw the stranger get into the driver seat and drive off back towards Highway 57.
Early the next morning, a Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s deputy was southbound on Highway 41 just south of County Highway N when he saw a vehicle parked off the side of the road. The deputy stopped behind the vehicle and ran the plate.
The vehicle wasn’t occupied and it came back registered to the victim and had been reported stolen from the City of De Pere.
A Brown County Sheriff’s Department detective spoke with several law enforcement agencies and came up with a suspect name Akiel Davis-Rodgers. About a week later, he brought a photo lineup to the carjacking victim and he selected the photo of Davis-Rodgers.
On June 10, 2016, Davis-Rodgers was jailed at the Pinckneyville Correctional Center on a contempt of court/disobey order.
Davis-Rodgers is due back in Brown County Circuit Court on July 5 for a status conference. If convicted of all charges, Davis-Rodgers faces up to 86 years in prison.
