Two suspects arrested after church parking lot carjacking – News – Daytona Beach News-Journal Online – Daytona Beach, FL
Two suspects arrested after church parking lot carjacking
The victim was 93-year-old parishioner who had keys stolen out of her palm, police say
Tony Holt @TonyCrimeWriter
DELAND — A pair of carjackers left a 93-year-old DeLand woman battered and bleeding in a church parking lot and led law enforcement on a brief pursue before crashing the stolen car in the backyard of a house on West Winnemissett Avenue, police said.
The pursuit lasted about ten minutes before DeLand police and Volusia County sheriff’s deputies swooped in to apprehend the two suspects — Darius Matthews, 20, and David Leo Perkins III, both of Daytona Beach, said Chris Graham, a DeLand city spokesman.
The victim, Maraquita Steinmetz, was in the rear parking lot at St. Peter’s Catholic Church, three hundred fifty nine W. Fresh York Ave., around 8:15 a.m. when she was approached by two dudes who shoved her to the ground and stole her car, according to reports.
Someone at the church called 9-1-1 and dispatchers originally thought they were sending police officers to the scene of a strong-armed robbery.
“He grabbed my keys right out of my forearm,” Steinmetz could be heard telling in the background of a 9-1-1 call. The call from dispatch was subsequently switched to a carjacking.
After the boys took her keys, “the woman reached into the car to attempt to stop this from occurring, and initial reports are that she was dragged about twenty feet and couldn’t suspend on anymore,” DeLand Police Chief Jason Umberger said.
Steinmetz suffered cuts and injuries over parts of her figure, but she declined an ambulance rail to the hospital, according to the 9-1-1 recording.
She did not want to speak to reporters who attempted to reach her on the phone and at her home.
“She’s shaken up but she’s otherwise fine,” Umberger said. “I’m told she’s a very resilient woman.”
Church staffers declined to speak to the media Thursday. They referred all calls to the Catholic Diocese of Orlando.
“We beg for all those involved in the situation,” said Jennifer Drew, a diocese spokeswoman.
One of the suspects may have left a bicycle at the scene, according to police.
Responding officers spotted the the stolen car at Euclid Avenue and Stone Street and followed the car southwest, Graham said.
The suspects went off the road and “very quickly (drove) into some backyards and then crashed,” Umberger said.
After the car crashed near the house at eight hundred forty eight W. Winnemesett, the suspects got out of the vehicle and ran. Umberger said DeLand police apprehended the passenger while Volusia County deputies tracked down the driver.
Umberger said the suspects were being questioned and charges are forthcoming.
He called the act of carjacking a 93-year-old woman in a church parking lot and dragging her along the asphalt “very disturbing” and said he was appreciative she was not gravely injured.
 ”Here you have an elderly person . very likely doing some volunteer work at the church or just spending time at her place of adore and she has to be accosted (like that),” Umberger said. “It’s disturbing on a lot of levels.”
DeLand Police have two suspects in custody following a carjacking at St. Peter’s Catholic Church. More details to come.pic.twitter.com/fPMLSlqeQl
— City of DeLand (@CityofDeLand)July 20, 2017
Two suspects arrested after church parking lot carjacking – News – Daytona Beach News-Journal Online – Daytona Beach, FL
Two suspects arrested after church parking lot carjacking
The victim was 93-year-old parishioner who had keys stolen out of her palm, police say
Tony Holt @TonyCrimeWriter
DELAND — A pair of carjackers left a 93-year-old DeLand woman battered and bleeding in a church parking lot and led law enforcement on a brief pursue before crashing the stolen car in the backyard of a house on West Winnemissett Avenue, police said.
The pursuit lasted about ten minutes before DeLand police and Volusia County sheriff’s deputies swooped in to apprehend the two suspects — Darius Matthews, 20, and David Leo Perkins III, both of Daytona Beach, said Chris Graham, a DeLand city spokesman.
The victim, Maraquita Steinmetz, was in the rear parking lot at St. Peter’s Catholic Church, three hundred fifty nine W. Fresh York Ave., around 8:15 a.m. when she was approached by two dudes who shoved her to the ground and stole her car, according to reports.
Someone at the church called 9-1-1 and dispatchers primarily thought they were sending police officers to the scene of a strong-armed robbery.
“He grabbed my keys right out of my mitt,” Steinmetz could be heard telling in the background of a 9-1-1 call. The call from dispatch was subsequently switched to a carjacking.
After the guys took her keys, “the woman reached into the car to attempt to stop this from occurring, and initial reports are that she was dragged about twenty feet and couldn’t drape on anymore,” DeLand Police Chief Jason Umberger said.
Steinmetz suffered cuts and scars over parts of her bod, but she declined an ambulance rail to the hospital, according to the 9-1-1 recording.
She did not want to speak to reporters who attempted to reach her on the phone and at her home.
“She’s shaken up but she’s otherwise fine,” Umberger said. “I’m told she’s a very resilient woman.”
Church staffers declined to speak to the media Thursday. They referred all calls to the Catholic Diocese of Orlando.
“We plead for all those involved in the situation,” said Jennifer Drew, a diocese spokeswoman.
One of the suspects may have left a bicycle at the scene, according to police.
Responding officers spotted the the stolen car at Euclid Avenue and Stone Street and followed the car southwest, Graham said.
The suspects went off the road and “very quickly (drove) into some backyards and then crashed,” Umberger said.
After the car crashed near the house at eight hundred forty eight W. Winnemesett, the suspects got out of the vehicle and ran. Umberger said DeLand police apprehended the passenger while Volusia County deputies tracked down the driver.
Umberger said the suspects were being questioned and charges are forthcoming.
He called the act of carjacking a 93-year-old woman in a church parking lot and dragging her along the asphalt “very disturbing” and said he was appreciative she was not gravely injured.
 ”Here you have an elderly person . most likely doing some volunteer work at the church or just spending time at her place of adore and she has to be accosted (like that),” Umberger said. “It’s disturbing on a lot of levels.”
DeLand Police have two suspects in custody following a carjacking at St. Peter’s Catholic Church. More details to come.pic.twitter.com/fPMLSlqeQl
— City of DeLand (@CityofDeLand)July 20, 2017
