MELBOURNE, Fla. – Two people were caught in Melbourne after running from a vehicle involved in a carjacking in Orange County, according to police.
The carjacking happened early Tuesday in Orange County, officials said, and the stolen Volkswagen was located at the Manatee Cove apartments in the area of U.S. 1 and NASA Boulevard in Melbourne.
Deputies said a man was carjacked at work in the 8000 block of Horizon Park Drive. Two people with guns ordered the man out of the car and “the suspects fled, one of them in the victim’s vehicle.” The man was not injured.
A dispatcher described one of the suspects as wearing all black with a black mask.
UPDATE: @MelbournePolice say both armed carjacking suspects are now in custody. An officer tells us this is the car the suspects stole in Orange County and then drove to the Manatee Cove apartments before running away. @news6wkmg: https://t.co/uDtg03fqMS pic.twitter.com/K6e88EkK35
— James Sparvero (@JamesSparvero) November 28, 2023
The Melbourne Police Department said officers later discovered the Volkswagen and two people ran off as they approached it. The officers gave chase, and both culprits were later captured, police said.
The suspects, 18-year-old Ben Rivera and 19-year-old Brandon Bock, were arrested.
Some tenants at the apartment complex were worried for their safety and the safety of their families.
“I’m scared,” Claribel Baez told News 6 reporter James Sparvero.
Another person living at Manatee Cove, Brianna Leigh, shared a message for the suspects after a stressful day.
“Think before you do it, baby, please,” she said. “Because I don’t want to see anybody in trouble. Y’all have to do much better with these guns and these car stealings.”
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