Five suspects arrested after burglarizing Hunt Club area businesses
From the Seminole County Sheriff's Office
Demarcus Payne
Seminole County deputies arrested five suspects who burglarized multiple businesses and charged them with burglary and resisting arrest. The investigation began August 8 at approximately 1:40 a.m. when a deputy on proactive patrol noticed a suspicious vehicle near the intersection of South Hunt Club Boulevard and East SR 436 in unincorporated Apopka. The deputy then witnessed several suspects exit the vehicle and break the front doors of two neighboring businesses.
Demarcus Payne, 18, of Apopka, Rashad A. Johnson, 19, of Orlando and three juveniles from Orlando were arrested.
The suspects are also being investigated in connection with the attempted burglary of a Verizon store in Apopka.
The deputy confronted the suspects who tried to flee in a stolen vehicle. In an attempt to avoid arrest, the driver drove backwards at a high rate of speed until the vehicle crashed into a fence. One suspect was immediately taken into custody. Four other suspects continued to flee on foot. A canine tracked them to a backyard shed in a residential area just south of the scene. The suspects were located hiding in the shed and taken into custody without incident.
Possible connection to attempted burglary at Apopka Verizon store
The vehicle used in the crime was reported stolen out of Orlando. The driver, Demarcus Payne, was additionally charged with Grand Theft of a Motor Vehicle. All five suspects remain incarcerated on a no bond status. The investigation into the suspects’ possible ties to other commercial burglaries is continuing, including an attempted burglary of a Verizon store in Apopka.
Video captured by our Alert helicopter of the apprehension can be viewed here.