Two teens charged as adults in Acreage armed carjacking try
THE ACREAGE — Two 16-yearolds have been charged as adults for their alleged roles in an attempted armed carjacking in The Acreage last month, the Palm Beach County Sheriff ’s Office said.
Carlos Diaz and Jeremiah Franklin had run away from an Acreage group home less than four hours before they donned masks and brandished pist o ls in an effort to steal a car from a man pumping gas at a Circle K on Seminole Pratt Whitney Road on June 26, the Sheriff ’s Office said.
The man jumped in his car and sped off when he saw the teens approaching with pistols drawn shortly before 6 a.m. The teens fled on foot from the gas station, the arrest report said.
Deputies spotted the teens walking down Seminole Pratt Whitney an hour later and tried to stop them, but the teens ran, the report said.
PBSO K-9 units quickly located Diaz tossing clothing and other items into a man-made lake in the Westlake area near Loxahatchee, deputies said.
According to the report, a K-9 bit Franklin during his arrest. Franklin was taken to a hospital, where he had a mental-health evaluation under the Baker Act due to comments he made about harming himself.
Both Diaz and Franklin remained in custody at the Palm Beach County Jail on Tuesday with their bail set at $250,000 each.
The Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office over the past two years has more than 15 juveniles charged as adults in cases of armed carjackings.