VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) — A Fort Lauderdale man was arrested Monday night after a dramatic series of events that began with an armed carjacking and ended with a search through the mangroves along the Halifax River.
The Volusia Sheriff’s Office (VSO) said it all began just before 9 p.m. on October 6 when the suspect —later identified as 34-year-old Grant Hagood-James — approached a man on South Atlantic Avenue in Daytona Beach Shores and asked for a ride. Once inside the vehicle, Hagood-James allegedly pulled a gun, ordered the driver out, and fled in the stolen car.
The suspect’s escape took a bizarre turn when he was spotted swimming up to the deck of a restaurant in Port Orange, according to VSO. Witnesses reported seeing him run through the establishment, discard his shirt, and jump back into the river, disappearing into the dense mangroves…