Police are still looking for a missing Northfield teenager, nearly two weeks after he was accused of trying to kill two people by running their car off the road.
Aleksander “Sasha” Cherkasov, 19, faces nine separate criminal charges, including four felonies and five misdemeanors. Most notable are two charges of second-degree attempted murder and a charge of aggravated domestic assault with a deadly weapon.
“Really, all we’re saying right now is that Northfield and other agencies are looking for him,” said John Helfant, the Northfield police chief. “We have not located him yet, and until he is located, it’s our top priority at Northfield PD.”
The charges stem from a March 20 incident when neighbors called police to report a driver had rammed a car off an embankment, where it fell 40 to 50 feet, according to an affidavit in the case. The neighbors reported that two girls had just exited the car before it was pushed over the edge.
Police identified the two girls as Cherkasov’s on-again, off-again girlfriend and one of her friends. According to the affidavit, the problem began with an argument between Cherkasov and his girlfriend, in which Cherkasov accused the girlfriend of denting his car and then took some of her possessions and shoes, demanding money for the damage.
“It escalated really quickly and he hit me,” the girlfriend said about the argument, according to an affidavit.
After that, the two girls got in their car and drove away, but Cherkasov followed them and quickly ran them off the road, the affidavit alleges. During the pursuit, the girls’ car became stuck on an embankment, according to the affidavit, but they were able to get out of the car just before Cherkasov allegedly pushed it down the hill.
Cherkasov then drove away.
While police were investigating the incident, Cherkasov’s mother, Jennifer Canfield, called 911 and told a dispatcher that the car in question was at her mother’s house, though she said the damage to the vehicle was caused by “the girls.”
Police found the car at Canfield’s mother’s house with “heavy denting” and other significant damage, but Cherkasov was not around. Canfield told police her son had gone for a drive, and she would bring him to the police station once he returned.
After she failed to show at the station, police called to ask where she was. Canfield told them she was “feeling stressed by the situation” and asked to meet another day, which police refused, according to the affidavit.
Several phone calls later, Canfield told police that, after speaking with a lawyer, she had decided her son would not be coming in. She then stopped responding to phone calls, according to police.
Helfant said no charges have been filed against in connection to the case.
Less than a year ago, Cherkasov faced unrelated charges accusing him of pointing a gun at a neighbor, though it’s unclear if the charges resulted in a conviction. Helfant said he could not confirm any previous convictions involving Cherkasov, as he was a minor at the time.
