A suspect who allegedly attempted to carjack a victim with a stolen chainsaw and hammer was captured by authorities following a manhunt in Virginia on Monday, according to the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office.
After a three-hour search that included a K-9 unit and a drone, officials were able to apprehend Devin Laws, 26, of Blackwater. Officials added that brass knuckles were also found in Laws’ pocket upon his capture.
The ordeal began just before 7 a.m., when deputies responded to a disturbance with a weapon call.
Deputies said the caller reported she was parked in a driveway when a stranger approached with a chainsaw in one hand and a hammer in the other.
Laws then allegedly grabbed her door handle and took the hammer up in a motion to swing it toward the car window. The driver sped away from him, deputies said.
As deputies arrived and began the search for Laws, they were flagged down by another resident on the street with a report of another crime.
Deputies said the resident reported waking up to a noise in his home at 6:30 a.m. When he went to investigate the noise, he encountered the same carjacking suspect in his home. Upon seeing the homeowner, the resident told authorities that the suspect fled from the home.
Other residents called with reports of the suspect ringing multiple doorbells in the area, and a second resident claimed Laws had entered his home with a handgun.
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Deputies deployed the K-9 unit to track the suspect, who was able to find various pieces of the suspect’s clothing, the chainsaw and a handgun. Officials also sent up a drone to monitor the area from the air as neighbors continued to report sightings of Laws.
When deputies located Laws, he claimed he was in the area to do landscaping work, according to the sheriff’s office.
Deputies said Laws is now in the Rappahannock Regional Jail without bond on charges of breaking and entering, attempted carjacking, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, use of a firearm during the commission of a felony, carrying a concealed weapon, carrying a concealed weapon after a felony conviction, petit larceny, and vandalism.
The stolen chainsaw was also returned to the rightful owner, according to officials.
“Great teamwork by the deputies and residents to keep Stafford safe!” Stafford County Sheriff David “DP” Dectur wrote on social media.
