East Cleveland man guilty of stealing car at gunpoint

CLEVELAND - An East Cleveland man has been convicted of carjacking a man at gunpoint last year.

The federal jury found 20-year-old Shaundelle Dial guilty of using a firearm during a carjacking. He already pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of ammunition.

In June 2011, Dial pointed a gun at a man eating lunch in his car in Green Road Park in Warrensville Heights and demanded money, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. The victim told jurors during the three-day trial that he “didn’t want to die in his car,” so he tried to grab the gun.

Attorneys said the victim failed to get the weapon and backed away, while Dial took off in his Mazda 6.

"Our office places a high priority on prosecuting violent crimes," Dettelbach said, in a news release. "This case in an example of federal agencies and local police departments working together to take a violent criminal off the streets."

Dial’s sentencing is set for Jan. 15, 2013. He has prior convictions for drug trafficking.