A 20-year-old West Baltimore man was charged with carjacking and six counts of abduction last night in connection with the incident Monday in which a van with six children inside was carjacked, a police spokesman said.
Officer Robert W. Weinhold Jr., the spokesman, said Timothy Keith Clapp of the 2000 block of Westwood Ave. also was charged with theft of a motor vehicle and six counts of reckless endangerment.
Mr. Clapp was awaiting a bail hearing at the Northwestern District, Officer Weinhold said.
According to the spokesman, Officer Anthony Barkas of the Northwestern District's major crimes unit, the lead investigator in the case, gathered information that allowed police to obtain a warrant Thursday for Mr. Clapp's arrest.
Officer Weinhold said that about 7 p.m. yesterday, Mr. Clapp called 911 and told officers where he could be found.
According to police, the carjacking occurred about 8 a.m. Monday. About 10 minutes earlier, Grace Weissmann started the van outside her home in the 3800 block of Labyrinth Road then went back inside to help her six children get ready for school, leaving the keys in the ignition and the engine running.
When it came time to leave, she said, the children bolted out the door and into the van. "I'm a little slow getting down the stairs," said Mrs. Weissmann, a mother of nine who broke her kneecap last year when she slipped on ice.
"They were about 5 or 10 feet in front of me."
The next thing she knew, a young man had sauntered in front of her and hopped into the van. Police said she put up a brief struggle, opening up the driver-side door, but the suspect pulled it shut.
The suspect drove the 1984 blue Dodge Ram van west on Labyrinth Road and made a left on Gist Avenue, police said. He ran a stop sign at the intersection of Gist Avenue and Clarks Lane, where the van was broadsided by a 1994 white Plymouth Voyager.
Four of the children suffered cuts and bruises.
After the accident, the suspect drove the van east on Fords Lane, parked it in the rear lot of the Har Sinai synagogue and fled.