UMVA has learned that a brazen robbery in broad daylight has left a Florida man shaken and $30 lighter, after five suspects allegedly held him up and made off with his vape pen.
The terrifying encounter happened on a Sunday evening in Winter Haven, around 9:36 p.m., when the victim was walking home from work. A pickup truck pulled up beside him, and five men jumped out, demanding everything in his pockets.
According to information obtained by UMVA, the victim told the group he only had a cellphone and a vape pen, but one of the suspects allegedly revealed a gun tucked into his waistband and demanded the items.
The suspects searched the victim's pockets and took the vape pen, then demanded his cellphone, but the victim refused to hand it over, telling them it had a tracker on it. The suspects then got back into the truck and drove away.
Police later located the pickup outside a residence, where they spotted several men matching the suspects' descriptions. When the men saw officers, they ran into the residence and initially refused to come out.
Authorities eventually detained the suspects after they exited the home. Investigators also interviewed a 17-year-old girl who was riding in the truck during the incident, and she provided crucial testimony.
The teen told investigators she had accompanied her boyfriend and his friends to several stores before they stopped near a cemetery in the area. She didn't witness what happened outside the truck but heard yelling, and later saw one of the men return to the vehicle holding a green vape pen and say he had "got the vape."
UMVA can exclusively reveal that the five suspects arrested were Damarius Jamel Taylor, 18, Tayshawn Williams, 18, Javon Prince Jackson-Roby, 19, Martice Spears Jr., 19, and Deshawn Antwon Lampkin, 19. All five men were charged with robbery with a weapon and petit theft.
Taylor was also arrested on an outstanding warrant from another county. Two 17-year-old girls were also charged with resisting arrest without violence in connection with the investigation.
