The fourth Columbia teen charged with the assault and attempted armed robbery of a Columbia cab driver in March pleaded guilty in Howard County Circuit Court this week.
Woody Rousseau, 17, of the 6500 block of Pennacock Court, plead guilty to a robbery charge in front of Judge Louis A. Becker III on Thursday, Sept. 12, according to State's attorney spokesman Wayne Kirwan.
Rousseau is the last of the four teens charged in the March 1 incident and will be sentenced on Dec. 20.
On Sept. 6, Chelby Ofosusafori, 17, of the of the 6500 block of Woven Moonbeam Street, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery, and will be sentenced Oct. 11. On Aug. 20, Johnam Perez-Rivera, 16,of the 9400 block of Merry Rest Road, pleaded guilty to one count of armed robbery and one count of first-degree assault and was sentenced to 18 months in jail. Khalid Khahiem Woods, 19, of the 9200 block of Wandering Way, pleaded guilty on Aug. 8 to armed robbery and conspiracy to commit first-degree assault, and will be sentenced Nov. 15.
On March 1, the cab driver picked up the four teens and took them to their requested destination of Sewell's Orchard neighborhood in Columbia. Upon arrival, one of the four passengers choked the driver with a yellow karate belt, Kirwan said. The front seat passenger, believe to be Woods, pulled out a handgun, which Howard County Police believe was a BB gun, and threatened to kill the driver.
The driver, fearing for his life, sped off and crashed into a tree, according to the charging documents file in the cases.
Kirwan said the cab driver told the court that he suffered panic attacks following the crash and said "People trying to take my life for a couple of dollars…this shouldn't have happened to anybody."
According to Kirwan, Rousseau sat in the center rear passenger seat and that it was his cell phone that was used to call the cab company, though he did not make the call. Police investigators recovered Rousseau's eyeglasses and a second BB gun, belonging to Rousseau, in the back seat of the cab.