A 21-year-old Bradenton man is charged with armed carjacking after setting up the victim with promises of sex while pretending to be a female, according to the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office.
Thevlon Rainey was arrested Sunday and remains in the Sarasota County jail pending a future court date. The incident occurred in July but an arrest warrant was issued for Rainey in September after DNA results implicated him, according to the warrant.
Deputies say the victim received text messages from a girl who called herself “Katie,” and if the victim agreed to pick her up, she would repay him with sex.
The victim drove his Lexus to the location of the prearranged meeting at the dead end of Chilk Avenue and was met by four suspects, including Rainey, deputies say.
The suspects pulled handguns and demanded that the victim get out and when the victim refused, he was struck in the head with one of the firearms, according to the arrest report. The armed suspects threatened to kill the victim and then stole $300 in cash, two cell phones and attempted to steal the vehicle, the report states.
The vehicle would not start, however, because it could only be started by the owner using his key FOB, which is a computer generated password system. The suspects chased the victim to get the key FOB, but a resident on the street drove by, lighting up the suspects with the headlights, which panicked the suspects into running away, deputies say.
Deputies recovered the stolen cellphones and confirmed the text messages from “Katie” were an attempt to lure the victim to the location, the report states.
A necklace that did not belong to the victim was found on the ground at the driver’s side door and was sent for DNA testing, which came back to identify Rainey.
Rainey has 17 prior felony arrests to include robbery and other firearms-related arrests and has been convicted of a felony on five previous occasions. Rainey was on felony probation and had an active warrant for his arrest for violating that probation.
The investigation continues as law enforcement continues to search for remaining suspects.
