JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A St. Johns County robbery suspect was arrested in Jacksonville after a high-speed chase Thursday ended in San Marco, police said.
The St. Johns County Sheriff's Office said the suspect, Brandon Dailey, 30, was wanted for a home invasion in March. Another suspect in the case, Colby Clifton, 23, was arrested about a month ago, deputies said. He was charged with armed home invasion robbery and two counts of burglary with assault, and is being held on bonds totaling $900,000.
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Detectives said they found the car used during the St. Johns County home invasion in West Virginia with evidence linking the two suspects to the robbery.
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said Dailey was spotted Thursday morning by a K-9 officer in the area of Edgewood Avenue and Post Street. Dailey fled from the traffic stop, and the high-speed pursuit continued onto Interstate 10, police said.
Dailey got off I-95 in San Marco, ditched the car he was driving at Hendricks Avenue and Atlantic Boulevard, near Landon Middle School, and ran into an office building on Atlantic Boulevard, where he was caught on the third floor by U.S. marshals and JSO officers, police said.
Landon Middle School and some surrounding business were briefly put on lockdown, police said.
Some of the employees in the office building where Dailey was caught were pretty shaken up Thursday, but they said they are glad nobody got hurt.
“Very thankful, not only for the employees, but also for the suspect, simply because he was hiding. They didn’t know where he was. They had people standing there. They weren’t sure, but they knew what they were doing,” said Frank Reinstine, an employee at Demetree Brothers, Inc. “I’ve never seen anything like it. You hear about it. You watch it on television. But these guys are professionals, and the K-9 unit is incredible, but they apprehended him.”
St. Johns County deputies said the home invasion charges stem from a robbery on C.H. Arnold Road on March 18. According to the two male victims, ages 34 and 35, they were asleep at the residence when the two suspects allegedly forced open the front door shortly after 4 a.m. and demanded money from the victims.
One of the victims was struck by one suspect in the head with a firearm. He was taken to Baptist South Hospital where he was treated and released at the time.
The suspects demanded money from the second victim who turned over a large amount of cash after the suspect fired a shot into the floor.
During the course of the investigation, detectives learned that the 2009 Nissan Altima that was used in the alleged home invasion had been reported stolen in Duval County on March 9 and recovered in West Virginia ten days later by the West Virginia Highway Patrol, deputies said.
Investigators there located evidence from the St. Johns home invasion inside the vehicle and were able to identify the two suspects as well, deputies said.