2 captured after truck burglary near Alligator Farm

St. Augustine police flood neighborhood in search for suspects

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – After St. Augustine Police, St. Johns County Sheriffs officers and St. Augustine Beach police surrounded an area around the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park on A1A Wednesday morning, two men suspected of breaking into a truck in the neighborhood were taken into custody.

John Brueggen with the Alligator Farm told News4Jax that police were in the area since 5:40 a.m. looking for a juvenile in the marsh around the property. The neighborhood was initially locked down, but reopened around 8 a.m. and there was no danger to residents, police said.

Police said that they were looking for two men in their 20s who were breaking into a truck in the area. The owner of the truck saw the men, called police and came out with a handgun to try to keep the men there until police arrived, but the men ran.

One was caught right away. The other escaped into the marsh. About 2 p.m., St. Augustine police tweeted that a second person was in custody and being questioned.

The woman who's husband owns the truck told News4Jax that they were asleep when they heard someone open their driveway gate. Her husband looked out the window and saw two men trying to break into his truck. He turned on the house floodlights and the two men took off.

She said that two other cars appear to have been rifled through, with center consoles open, but the owner couldn't identify anything that was taken.