Four Florida teenagers were charged with kidnapping after carjacking a federal agent's SUV while he was vacationing in the heart of the Orlando tourist area. It wasn't known if they were aware of who he was.
The incident began at the Fairfield Inn Suites near Universal Drive on Wednesday,
according to WFTV. Armando Alaniz, an agent with the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, was in his car on setting the GPS when four males jumped him, one with a weapon, according to the
Orlando Sentinel.
They reportedly beat Alaniz before tying him up with duct tape and zip ties. They held him for two hours before abandoning the vehicle after Alaniz's wife notified OnStar to call her husband in the SUV.
Alaniz managed to escape his bonds and flee the vehicle. He was hospitalized and received four stitches for a scalp wound from being pistol whipped, according to authorities.
Dante Askins, 18, Gregory McDonald, 19, and a 16-year-old and 15-year-old were arrested by Orange County deputies after Askins was later found in a stolen car. He apparently snitched on the others.
The Sentinel said records indicated Askins had been arrested five times before and in 2013, at age 16, was charged as an adult with attempted first-degree murder after a drive-by shooting between two Pine Hills street gangs. Those charged were dropped, but his two co-defendants received 21 years and 15 years.
"These high school students were playing a dangerous game, and they got caught playing a dangerous game," said Orland County Sheriff Jerry Demings. "If you are coming to our community with criminal intent, we want you to think twice about it."
Authorities told
WOFL-TV there had been an increase in criminal activity in the area.
"We saw (law enforcement) this morning, they were kind of watching the area," said business owner Sandra Redmond. "My first reaction was to just think, maybe I should walk the area tonight and see what the darkest areas are and get together with the other businesses and see if we can light the place up a little bit more."
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