A 19-year-old man from Lehigh Acres is being held without bond after Miami police say he took part in an armed robbery at a downtown apartment building on the morning of August 14, then fled across the state in a Chevrolet Corvette before deputies caught up with him in Fort Myers and found a victim’s stolen pill bottle hidden between his buttocks.
Xavier Vance Thompson now faces an armed robbery charge in Miami-Dade County, according to WPLG Local 10. The victim had been invited to an apartment on August 12 to socialize with Thompson, 22-year-old Giovanni Lee Veilleux, another man, and two women, the station reports. Two days later, Miami police say the gathering turned violent when the victim was confronted by Thompson, Veilleux, and three other men armed with pistols and AR-15 rifles.
A Chokehold, a Blocked Elevator, and Mocking Words
According to the station’s report, the suspects restrained the victim in a chokehold, and one of them struck him in the head several times with an AR-15. Two suspects then escorted the victim toward the elevator and threatened him, but the elevator would not move because it required a key fob. The suspects allegedly mocked the victim after he pleaded for his belongings, with Veilleux reportedly telling him, “Give it up.”
Police say the suspects stole the victim’s rose gold 22-inch Cuban link necklace set with baguette diamonds, his Chrome Hearts designer reading glasses, his red Nike shoes, his identification card, bank card, cash, prescription pills, and his cellphone. Once the confrontation ended, the victim ran down the stairwell to check whether his own vehicle had been taken from the parking garage; it had not. He then reported the robbery to a Miami police sergeant, per the same account.
License Plate Readers Track the Getaway Across the State
The suspects fled the apartment garage in a Chevrolet Corvette and a Dodge Durango, and downtown license plate readers captured both vehicles as they headed toward Interstate 95, the outlet reports. From there, prosecutors say the group made the roughly 156-to-170-mile run across South Florida toward Fort Myers, a trip that typically takes two and a half to three hours via Interstate 95 and Interstate 75 across Alligator Alley, according to Prestige Miami Express…