Teen charged with carjacking; victim allegedly told she’d be shot if she didn’t comply
An 18-year-old from New Haven was arrested on a federal criminal complaint charging him with carjacking, according to federal officials.
Tihaja Ortiz-Tucker is charged with conspiracy and possessing and brandishing a firearm in connection with a crime of violence. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert M. Spector in New Haven and was ordered detained pending a detention hearing that is scheduled for July 26, according to federal officials.
Federal officials, citing allegations in court documents and statements made in court, said the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Safe Streets Violent Crime Task Force and several police departments have been investigating multiple violent carjackings that have occurred recently in Connecticut.
One carjacking involved “a victim who had posted her vehicle for sale on Facebook Marketplace,” and on July 7, Ortiz-Tucker and others allegedly met the victim in Bridgeport and test drove her car, authorities said.
“The victim reported that, after the test drive, Ortiz-Tucker reached into a black fanny pack-style pouch slung over his shoulder and pulled out a 9mm handgun and pointed it at her.” authorities said in a statement. “Ortiz-Tucker instructed the victim to get out of the car or he was going to shoot her. The victim complied, and Ortiz drove away in the victim’s vehicle.”
Federal authorities said it also is alleged that Ortiz-Tucker is suspected of being involved in other gunpoint carjackings, including two carjackings of Uber drivers on May 2 and May 4, 2022.
“In both instances, an Uber driver picked up the carjacker in New Haven and drove to Wallingford where their cars were taken from them. Both cars were later recovered in the same area of Hamden,” the statement said.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Safe Streets Violent Crime Task Force, the Connecticut State Police and the Wallingford, New Haven, Hamden, Waterbury, and Bridgeport police departments. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah P. Karwan and Tara E. Levens.
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