Man Pleads Guilty to Carrying Concealed Firearm While Shoplifting, Eluding Police While Driving Without License in Subsequent Arrest in 2024

NORFOLK, Va. — Jakobe Quintel Banks, 20, pleaded guilty on March 26 to felony eluding, misdemeanor driving without a license, felony carrying of a concealed weapon, and misdemeanor larceny after he sped away from police and crashed during an attempt to avoid another arrest days after he was caught shoplifting while illegally possessing a gun last year.

On the afternoon of July 10, 2024, security at Target on North Military Highway detained Mr. Banks inside the store for shoplifting and contacted Norfolk Police. When officers arrived at the store, security informed them that Mr. Banks appeared to be in possession of a firearm, which Mr. Banks confirmed was concealed on his hip. For this incident, police charged Mr. Banks with petit larceny and misdemeanor carrying of a concealed weapon, and they released him on summonses with a promise to appear in court at a later date for these charges.

On July 20, 2024, a Norfolk Police officer saw Mr. Banks driving a car that had been reported stolen and attempted to pull Mr. Banks over near the intersection of Granby Street and Willow Wood Drive. Mr. Banks disregarded the officer’s lights and sirens, began speeding about 30 mph over the posted speed limit, and weaved through heavy traffic before flipping the vehicle over a curb and into the front yard of a house. Mr. Banks ran away from the wrecked vehicle, but the officer quickly detained him. For this incident, police secured multiple charges against Mr. Banks, including felony eluding and misdemeanor driving without a license, and Mr. Banks was held without bail.

Once the prosecutor received the case file, he determined that Mr. Banks had previously been convicted of misdemeanor carrying of a concealed weapon and sought an indictment against Mr. Banks for felony second-offense carrying of a concealed weapon.

On March 26, Mr. Banks entered an agreement to plead guilty to his four charges and be sentenced to up to one year in jail at the discretion of the deciding judge. Judge Robert B. Rigney accepted Mr. Banks’ plea agreement and deferred convicting Mr. Banks, pending a review of his pre-sentence report, and set his sentencing hearing on June 6.

“At the time he committed these offenses, Mr. Banks was not yet a felon. Had he done right after getting caught at Target, he might have avoided that fate. Instead, he went out and endangered himself and others, and by doing so he has earned a felony conviction and a disposition consistent with his actions,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “I thank the loss-prevention officers at Target for stopping and detaining Mr. Banks — the police cannot arrest and we cannot prosecute people who are never stopped — and the law-enforcement officers who charged Mr. Banks for bringing us the evidence necessary to secure a guilty plea. We will continue to be intentional in the way we pursue justice in Norfolk’s courts.”

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney J. Drew Fairbanks is prosecuting Mr. Banks’ case, and Norfolk Police Detective Arturo F. Garcia as well as Officers Riza Ekmecki and Cesar Kerruish led the investigations.

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