Teens suspected in carjacking, other crimes arrested

Two Orlando teens were arrested early Sunday on charges of armed carjacking after they were found inside a stolen vehicle that wrecked and rolled during a police chase in Lake County.

Police said the 15-year-old and 16-year-old are suspects in several other crimes, including a daytime robbery at a nearby KFC restaurant and a nighttime break-in at Phone World, a Leesburg cellphone store. Both incidents occurred on North 14th Street, less than a mile from the Quality Inn Hotel, 1392 W. North Blvd., where a woman, 69, was carjacked as she fetched belongings from her Toyota Rav4 in the parking lot while her husband was in the lobby.

Police said a male with a gun demanded her keys; she gave them up, and he drove off without her. She could not give police a thorough description of him.

About eight hours earlier, a man in a black hoodie and a red T-shirt around his face walked into KFC with his hand concealing something in his pocket. He then walked around the counter to the front of a cash register.

When an employee asked how she could help him, he showed her a handgun she described as a little rusty. She told police he pointed the gun at her face and ordered her to open the register.

When she said she couldn’t, he herded her and crew members to the manager’s office in back. Customers fled the restaurant.

The man with the gun demanded the manager open the safe and said, “I’m not going to hurt anybody.” He took the money and ran away.

Leesburg Police Lt. Joe Iozzi said the teens involved in the carjacking also smashed open the front glass door to Phone World, 749 N. 14th St., which was closed at the time. The break-in was caught on surveillance video. Police said the teens snatched cash from the register and a gold iPhone 8 on display. Iozzi said they also left behind a vehicle stolen in Orlando. He said it had a flat tire.

Shortly after the carjacking was reported to authorities, Fruitland Park Police spotted the stolen Toyota and tried to stop it, but the driver didn’t pull over.

Lake County deputy sheriffs joined the high-speed pursuit, which ended about 2 a.m. in Lady Lake, when the Toyota crashed off the side of the road near US. Highway 441. The teens weren’t injured in the wreck, Iozzi said.

Inside the vehicle, authorities found a 9mm handgun, which was reported stolen in Osceola County, and a gold iPhone taken from Phone World. One of the teens had a bullet in his pocket.

The teens face charges including commercial burglary, armed carjacking and possession of a stolen firearm.