Gardens teen charged as adult in carjacking

Blake Leonard accused of stealing car at gunpoint.

PALM BEACH GARDENS — A 16-year-old from Palm Beach Gardens is being charged as an adult after he allegedly stole at gunpoint a Lexus that was being sold through the social-media app OfferUp.

Blake Matthew Leonard is facing one count of armed carjacking with a firearm following his arrest in March. He was transferred to the Palm Beach County Jail on Saturday after prosecutors decided to try him as an adult. He remained in custody Monday in lieu of $50,000 bail.

Leonard is among more than a dozen teenagers who have been charged as adults with armed carjacking in Palm Beach County during the past 18 months.

According to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, the carjacking incident occurred on the afternoon of March 20 in the 1500 block of Crescent Circle, just south of Northlake Boulevard and west of U.S. 1.

Leonard’s accuser told sheriff’s investigators he listed a 2006 Lexus sedan on OfferUp on behalf of a friend looking to sell the vehicle.

The man said he received a response from a person who identified himself as “Kevin Mark.”

OfferUp is an online marketplace that allows users to sell and purchase used items.

The two and an unidentified third person met on Crescent Circle and took the vehicle for a test drive.

When they returned, the buyer, later identified as Leonard, said he wanted to buy the car and asked the seller to follow him and the other man to an apartment.

There, Leonard turned around with a handgun and demanded the keys to the car, the sheriff ’s office said. The seller complied and Leonard and his alleged accomplice ran to the vehicle and sped away.

The seller later identified Leonard as the robber after deputies showed him a photo lineup.