NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

MATT J. WHITWORTH

Contact Don Ledford, Public Affairs ● (816) 426-4220 ● 400 East Ninth Street, Room 5510 ● Kansas City, MO 64106

www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/index.html

APRIL 29, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

KC MAN SENTENCED FOR CARJACKING

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Matt J. Whitworth, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a Kansas City, Mo., man has been sentenced in federal court for carjacking.

Michael R. Toombs, Jr., 24, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Nanette K. Laughrey on Tuesday, April 28, 2009, to 14 years in federal prison without parole.

On Dec. 11, 2008, Toombs pleaded guilty to using a handgun to steal a 1999 Dodge Caravan from its owner. Toombs and another person, both armed with handguns, approached the victim, who was in the driver’s seat of the minivan, on June 23, 2008. Toombs pulled the victim’s wedding ring off of his finger and ordered him out of the minivan. Toombs fired a shot into the ground, told the victim to run, and drove away in the minivan.

Later that day, Kansas City police officers saw Toombs driving a Chevrolet Cobalt that had been reported stolen. Toombs attempted to flee on foot from the officers but was apprehended and arrested. Officers found a Rohm .38-caliber revolver during a search of the area.

On July 2, 2008, police officers saw Toombs driving the Dodge Caravan that had been stolen and arrested him.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen D. Mahoney. It was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department.

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