A Kansas City teenager accused of posing as a helpful stranger offering rides and yard work to rob or try to rob his targets, and of offering to vacuum a vehicle before allegedly stealing it, is now facing 15 criminal charges and will stand trial as an adult. Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson filed the charges against Damien Ware in connection with at least seven separate incidents that stretched from April 7 through July 17, according to court documents.
The charges, detailed by FOX4KC, include two counts of first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle, one count of first-degree attempted robbery, one count of first-degree attempted burglary, one count of aggravated fleeing a stop or detention, and one count of resisting or interfering with arrest for a felony. Court records allege Ware was tied to at least seven incidents involving armed robbery, attempted robbery and carjackings during that roughly three-month stretch, the station reports. Ware is also identified as a SAVE KC subject, according to the same report.
A Pattern of Fake Favors
The earliest alleged incident happened on April 7, when Ware approached a person near Hillcrest and Red Bridge and asked for a ride, according to KCTV5. He allegedly pulled a pocket knife and grabbed her purse during that encounter, and the victim suffered cuts on both hands, the station's report states. In a separate case, Ware is accused of offering to vacuum a Jeep Grand Cherokee to raise money for his high school before stealing the vehicle outright.
Detectives said in May they linked several other similar yard-work scams back to Ware, per the same account. Court documents also accuse him of trying to rob a Papa Johns delivery driver at gunpoint, along with at least two people he met through Facebook Marketplace transactions that soured into robbery attempts, the report notes.
Gunpoint Carjacking Outside an Aldi
The string of alleged crimes culminated on July 17, when a woman told investigators Ware got into her vehicle near an Aldi at 75th and Wornall Road, held her at gunpoint, and demanded she drive him elsewhere before robbing her, according to the KCTV5 account. She later identified Ware as her attacker. He was taken into custody that same day.
A judge certified Ware to stand trial as an adult, KCTV5 reported, moving his case out of the juvenile system and into Jackson County's adult court. Under Missouri law, that kind of certification follows a formal procedure laid out in Missouri Revised Statutes Section 211.071; the statute requires a hearing in specified circumstances and allows the court to order one in others.
Numbers Tell a Mixed Story Citywide
Ware's case lands against a backdrop of recent statistics showing Kansas City crime trending downward. Robberies fell 27% in 2025 compared with the prior year, and stolen autos dropped 32% over the same span, according to the Kansas City Missouri Police Department. Non-fatal shootings also fell 31% in 2025, the department reported. Police Chief Stacey Graves said at the time that “Kansas City is getting safer, as we add more officers while working hand-in-hand with our community and partners.”
Earlier in 2026, police attributed an additional 36% decline in robberies to the department's robbery unit becoming fully staffed, according to The Beacon. Ware's alleged seven-incident spree ran through much of that same window, even as the broader robbery numbers were reportedly falling. Jackson County prosecutors have not detailed a trial date as the case moves through adult court.
