WASHINGTON — An alleged serial carjacker is finally behind bars. 18-year Cedae Hardy was arrested in connection with a carjacking back in January but was released.
Prosecutors said he then went on to commit five more armed carjackings. Now, the teen faces a federal indictment - charged with 18 counts of gun and carjacking offenses.
The sting that led to his arrest could have uncovered an organized crime ring.
Hardy hit the radar Jan. 24, 2023, when U.S. Capitol Police recognized his car from multiple carjacking alerts out of Prince George's County. They proceeded to follow the car and a chase ensued.
The teenager and his accomplice later crashed into two U.S. Capitol Police cruisers before bailing out. Police caught the suspects hiding in an outdoor freezer in an alley behind Good Stuff Eatery on Pennsylvania Avenue, SE. Police said the suspects had a 9mm gun with a 12-inch extender barrel designed to explode ammunition when fired. Hardy had a large capacity magazine in his jacket pocket.
But court documents show Hardy tossed the gun before his arrest, even though he was charged with possession. So, while the courts waited for DNA to link Hardy to the gun, he was released from DC jail two days later.
“People that are involved in violent crime need to be incarcerated and held as they would have been this case could have saved some people some real pain,” said retired MPD narcotics Sgt. Dale Sutherland.
According to the indictment, on April 8, Hardy sent two text messages to a co-conspirator, one reading: "I'm outside now you can be on your way. Let’s get money my boy.”
The other read: "I'm boutta get sum and bring it straight to you."
Prosecutors said a few hours later and exactly 22 minutes after Hardy carjacked a Mercedes from Hyattsville, he drove the stolen car to the Hendrix apartment building at 1326 Florida Avenue NE.
Prosecutors then describe two co-conspirators who opened the garage door for Hardy. Two days later, that stolen car was sold to an undercover MPD officer for $1,200.
Sutherland, who worked undercover operations for MPD, is now a pastor and runs Code 3 - a nonprofit building relationships between police and the community.
“I’ll tell you, it's very dangerous, the undercover officers involved in this. I mean, you're dealing with people who rob multiple times a day in most cases. So, they're armed when you're dealing with them. And you're trying to determine how I can build this case, because I can't arrest them that minute. I have to make the case I have to buy the stolen car; I have to build relationships and get them coming back,” explained Sutherland. “So the undercovers in this case, were particularly brave to deal with carjackers face to face, it’s very dangerous.”
Sources close to the investigation told WUSA9 the co-conspirators have lived in the Hendrix apartment since 2019 and stored other stolen high-end vehicles in the garage for months before the arrest.
Then on April 10, prosecutors said Hardy got into the passenger side of a parked car and tried to carjack the victim at gunpoint. The victim fought back. Hardy fired his gun and shot the man twice in the arm and stomach. Hardy took off.
Finally, on June 14 just before 4 p.m., prosecutors said Hardy was sitting on the steps of 1220 D Street, SE right across the street from Watkins Elementary School when he approached a mom putting her 4- and 6-year-old children in the car. He put a gun to her stomach and demanded she hand over her cellphones and take the kids out of the car. She did. He got in the car and drove away.
Police finally caught up with Hardy because they tracked the victim's cellphone to a neighborhood in Northwest. The police helicopter tracked the suspect as he crashed into a car, then ran into someone’s backyard. He allegedly tried to get into the home, but the homeowner struggled with him. That’s when Hardy tossed the gun onto the roof of a nearby home.
Hardy is finally behind bars and will face a judge on these charges Thursday morning.
“We've got to care more to reach kids, before they get into this or even while they're in the system,” said Sutherland. “I used I say, we used to lock them up. And now we're trying to set him free. The goal is to try to get kids set free from what it is the pressures, the temptation, all that let them see there's a different way to live than to be caught up like this.”