MIDDLEBURG, Fla. — An armed carjacking ended in a search through neighborhoods near Blanding Boulevard in Middleburg on Sunday. Before Clay County Sheriff’s deputies arrested someone, a neighbor caught the man on camera.
“I got a notification on my phone, saying something was in my backyard," said Randy Clark, a neighbor in the area. "My son had some kids over, so I figured they were out playing and didn’t pay it no mind.”
It wasn’t until after he finished his round of golf that Clark found out from his sister-in-law something was going on in his neighborhood – police were looking for a carjacking suspect and were asking neighbors to stay inside and lock their doors.
Clark figured it may be a good idea to check that camera notification, and he discovered it was indeed not his son or his son’s friends.
“Yeah, he was just a little bit older than my son, he’s only 12," said Clark.
Clark called 911 and passed the video along to the Clay County Sheriff’s Office.
Before he knew it, the image his camera captured was what the Sheriff’s Office was sharing everywhere to show people who they were looking for.
“I can’t believe how quick it happened," said Clark. "I literally had just uploaded the video to them, and boom, it was on Facebook, it was being shared around the neighborhood, all over the county. It was pretty cool.”
About an hour and a half after the Clay County Sheriff’s Office shared Clark’s picture, it announced it had a suspect in custody.
Sheriff Michelle Cook posted the suspect was found hiding in eight feet of water in a swamp off Joe Johns Road.
She said, “After an exhaustive fight with officers and engagement by the K9, the suspect was taken into custody.”