5 accused of robbing man at gunpoint for $30 vape pen as he walked home from work in Winter Haven
Five men are accused of robbing a man at gunpoint for a vape pen. Images are courtesy of the Winter Haven Police Department.
WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - Five men are facing felony charges after they held up a man walking home from work Sunday night in a Winter Haven neighborhood, according to the Winter Haven Police Department.
Winter Haven armed robbery
What we know:
Police say a man was walking home from his work shift at around 9:36 p.m. Sunday in the area of Ave. K SW and 6th St SW when a silver Nissan Frontier pickup truck stopped next to him.
According to investigators, five men jumped out of the truck and demanded everything in his pockets.
When the man said he only had a cellphone and a vape pen, one of the men pulled up his shirt to show a gun tucked into his waistband, demanding the items, according to police.
The men, according to police, searched the victim's pockets and grabbed his green vape pen.
Police added that they demanded his phone next, but he refused to hand it over and told them it had a tracker on it.
The group, according to police, then jumped back into the truck and drove off.
Police track suspects
Dig deeper:
Officers later located the pickup truck outside a home along 7th St SW, where they saw men matching the descriptions standing outside.
Police said when the men saw them, they ran into the home and refused to come out.
Police said a 17-year-old girl inside the home initially blocked officers from entering. Police surrounded the house from the outside until everyone eventually exited, and the men were detained.
According to WHPD, a second 17-year-old girl, who was riding inside the truck during the encounter, told police she went to various stores with her boyfriend and his friends.
She claimed she did not see the robbery near the cemetery at 6th St SW and Ave M SW but heard yelling before one of the men got back inside holding a green vape pen.
Arrests and criminal charges
By the numbers:
Police arrested Damarius Jamel Taylor, 18, of Avon Park, Tayshawn Williams, 18, of Auburndale, Javon Prince Jackson-Roby, 19, of Avon Park, Martice Spears Jr., 19, of Winter Haven and Deshawn Antwon Lampkin, 19, of Winter Haven on charges of armed robbery and petit theft. Taylor also faces an out-of-county warrant from Highlands County.
The 17-year-old girlfriend in the truck was charged with resisting arrest without violence after giving a fake birthdate to appear older.
The 17-year-old girl at the home was also charged with resisting arrest without violence for refusing to let officers search for the hidden men.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from local police arrest records, which explained how the suspects were tracked to a local neighborhood, as well as statements given by a passenger inside the suspect's vehicle.