Update: Arrest made in Vero Beach attempted abductions, and the suspect arrested is not one we expected
On the evening of July 10, Florida’s Indian River County Sheriff Eric Flowers held a press conference to announce that an arrest had been made in the two assaults and attempted abductions that occurred on July 2 and July 7 in the usually quite Vero Beach Pointe West neighborhood. Although the community is now breathing a welcome sigh of relief, the suspect taken into custody in this case turned out to be a shocking surprise, and not the arrest we all expected.
The knife wielding “masked man wearing a hoodie with a muscular build” that ran away when both victims screamed for help during their assaults, turned out to be a 13-year-old local boy with a known history of mental health issues.
In a social media announcement, the Sheriff proclaimed that, earlier on July 10, 13-year-old Elijah Armin Cartwright was taken into custody by detectives from the IRCSO Criminal Investigations Division. Through investigation and community tips, Cartwright was identified as the sole suspect in the attempted abductions that occurred earlier this week.
A search of Cartwright’s home turned up clothing that matched the clothes worn by the suspect as seen on surveillance video following one of the assaults. As of yesterday, the young man was being detained at the Department of Juvenile Justice in Fort Pierce. He was booked on one count of attempted kidnapping, according to WPEC.
The child’s mother confronted her son about the incidents and said she knew it was him in the pictures.
“He admitted, somewhat, that he was the guy who did this,” Flowers said. “When he was talking to us today, his story was that he felt like he was in a ‘dream-like’ state. That he was watching himself from above.” ~ WPTV
“I am incredibly proud of our entire team who worked tirelessly to put our suspect behind bars. We are thankful for the community that came together and provided the critical information that helped make this case. It’s the community-law enforcement partnership that works, and this case is proof of that,” Flowers added.
You can the video of Sheriff Flowers’ press conference on WPTV.
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(Source and all images: Indian River County Sheriff’s Office)
Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today
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