Cleveland Heights Man Pleads Guilty to Robbery

A Cleveland Heights man pleaded guilty today to  at gunpoint and will be sentenced Thursday. 

Carl Sanders, 21, faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, and will appear in Judge R. Patrick Kelly’s courtroom at 10 a.m. Thursday. 

Sanders took money, a purse and other items from two people sitting in a car parked on the side of a Marathon Gas Station on Woodland Avenue in Cleveland Feb. 26. 

But he left something behind, said Ryan Miday, spokesperson for Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason's Office. 

Sanders opened the door and pointed a gun at a 31-year-old woman and a 37-year-old man. Prosecutors said he told them not to move, reached into the man's pocket and stole money, then reached toward the back and attempted to grab the woman's purse while continuing to point the gun at them.

When he couldn't reach, he told the woman, "Shut up and give me the purse." He ran with the purse, which had about $400 in it, and her driver's license, pea coat, credit card, Social Security card and identification card. 

The man and woman went to the gas station attendant to report what just happened outside and Cleveland Police arrived. One of the victims noticed a cellphone outside of the car. The phone rang, and someone on the other line asked, "What did you get?" The phone had Sanders' photo on it, prosecutors said. 

In a separate case, Sanders was also indicted on one count of drug possession, according to an email from the prosecutor's office. On March 31, police stopped Sanders for a traffic violation and found 4.61 grams of marijuana and .35 grams of cocaine.

He pleaded guilty today to one count of aggravated robbery with a three-year firearm specification, two counts of theft, one count of having weapons while under disability and one count of drug possession, according to the prosecutor's office. 

Sanders was . He was indicted on robbery, theft and weapons charges, and originally pleaded not guilty April 15. He's being held on a $50,000 bond.