JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Police have found for a man they believed to be missing after his car was found running in a Southside apartment complex Monday night.
Around 8:45 p.m. Monday, patrol officers with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office responded to Pine Meadows Apartments at 3451 Saland Way, off of Beach Boulevard near St. Johns Bluff Road, in reference to a disturbance.
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"When we got here we talked to two complainants who were sitting on some stairs of the apartments when they saw a black male wearing sunglasses. They thought that was a little odd since it was dark," said Sgt. Shawn Coarsey, of the JSO Homicide Unit.
Police say two people overheard a man talking on the phone to someone about "taking care of the problem" or "taking care of a certain person."
The witnesses say a short time later, another man showed up and started screaming, saying that the other man had a gun and he didn't know what he wanted, according to Sgt. Coarsey.
"They looked up and saw the black male holding a gun and the white male screaming. The white male took off running, the black male took off chasing the white male and that was the last they saw of him," said Sgt. Coarsey.
Police began a search Monday night for the two men, but haven't found them yet. Witnesses describe the suspect as a black male, wearing sunglasses and all dark clothing.
Coarsey said during the search, police found a vehicle in the apartment complex, still running, with no one inside.
"They ran the tag, they went to the location where the vehicle belongs and no one was home, they couldn't get anyone to come to the door, so they were afraid that it was foul play, maybe a kidnapping and that's where the homicide unit became involved," said Sgt. Coarsey. "We don't have a victim at this point, we're going to treat it like it's a possible abduction or kidnapping until we prove otherwise, because they did see a person with a gun chasing the other individual and we have the vehicle that doesn't belong here, we can't find the owner, so we're gonna treat it as foul play."
JSO started a thorough search Monday night, using a helicopter and K-9 teams.
After running the tags, police say the vehicle belongs to the father of 26-year-old Sasan Valinejad (pictured, right) of Jacksonville. Monday night, Valinejad's mother reported her husband's vehicle stolen.
"We are going to talk to her to see if she knows the location of her husband. They also have two sons we have not been able to locate them, they are both adults so we are also still searching for them," said Sgt. Coarsey.
Police considered Valinejad a missing person and believed foul play may have been involved.
They later found him at his girlfriend's house and determined he was the victim of an attempted robbery but was safe.