Clinton kidnapping suspects each face 200 years in jail
Police looking for third man
Two men who were arrested in a weekend kidnapping are being held without bond, and police have issued an arrest warrant for a third suspect after the men allegedly followed a bank manager back to her Clinton home and tied her and her family up with electrical cord to try to rob the Silver Spring bank where the woman worked.
Yohannes T. Surafel, 24, of the 400 block of Cedar Street in Washington, D.C., and Yosef Tadele, 23, of the 4100 block of Colie Drive in Silver Spring have been charged in connection with the kidnapping, according to statements from Maryland State Police.
Police have issued an arrest warrant for the third man allegedly involved, Beruke Ayalneh.
According to police, the manager of SunTrust Bank, at 1700 Elton Road, returned to her home Dec. 26 around 7:30 p.m. and was accosted while walking to her front door by Surafel and the third unknown man, armed with a gun and a knife.
Tadele allegedly dropped the two men off near the home prior to the kidnapping. In an effort to continue to protect the family, police said Monday they could not release a location for the home.
Both men are being held at the Prince George's County correctional facility. At a bond hearing Tuesday afternoon, Surafel's bond was changed from $5 million when he was arrested, and Tadele's was changed from $2 million.
Surafel and Tadele are each facing more than 20 counts including kidnapping and assault, and more than 200 years in prison. Preliminary hearings for the men will be held Jan. 26.
The woman, 39, and her husband, 40, were tied up with cord, the children were shut in a bedroom, and the men stayed in the house overnight.
Police have not released the names of the family members, but media reports have identified the father as James Spruill.
According to police, on the morning of Dec. 27, the men ordered the man and woman, and their two boys, ages 8 and 11, into the family's Mitsubishi Gallant, and told the father to drive to the Silver Spring bank where his wife works.
The men planned for the woman to assist them in robbing the bank, which was scheduled to open at 9 a.m. Surafel got into the vehicle with the family, and the other man stayed at the family's home and was later picked up by Tadele, police said.
Trooper Barrington Cameron, assigned to road patrol duties at the College Park Barracks, saw the Gallant weaving on the outer loop of I-495 near College Park and pulled the vehicle over. The father, who had been driving, told Cameron that Surafel, who was sitting in the backseat, had a gun. Surafel was taken into custody without incident. Police recovered a loaded semi-automatic pistol and a knife.
Prince George's County police searched the family's home Saturday afternoon in an attempt to find the third suspect, police spokesman Henry Tippett said Monday.
Police do not believe the woman or her family members knew the men prior to the incidents, said Arthur Betts, a state police spokesman.
While in custody at the College Park Barracks on Saturday, Surafel put his shirt around his neck and tied it to the cell door in an attempt to hang himself. An officer quickly responded and Surafel was taken to an area hospital and released the next day, according to a statement from police.
Surafel is charged with four counts of first-degree assault, four counts of second-degree assault, two counts of kidnapping, two counts of kidnapping a child under 16, four counts of false imprisonment, four counts of reckless endangerment, conspiracy to commit armed robbery and use of a handgun in the commission of a felony.
Tadele was arrested at the State Police College Park Barracks on Sunday morning after meeting with police investigators. He was charged with four counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree assault, four counts of conspiracy to commit second-degree assault, two counts of kidnapping, two counts of kidnapping a child under the age of 16 and conspiracy to commit armed robbery.
E-mail Megan McKeever at mmckeever@gazette.net.