- October 28, 2024
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Three teenagers held a 19-year-old autistic woman in a car against her will, threatened her with a knife and a stun gun, beat her and then drove away with her belongings, according to Flagler County Sheriff's Office deputies.
The victim said she'd been sitting in the parked Dodge Charger with the younger teens — a 16-year-old boy and two 17-year-old girls — in the cul de sac on Willard Place in Palm Coast when they accused her of damaging the car.
The victim and one of the girls, a 17-year-old with the initials M.Z., didn't get along because M.Z. called the victim demeaning names, the victim told deputies. All three teens knew that the vicim had been diagnosed with autism.
The boy, J.F., was at the wheel of the car, and the victim asked him to take her home, according to an arrest report.
Instead, the boy and M.Z. said, "You'll see where we're going to take you and you'll see what's gonna happen to you," the victim later told deputies.
M.Z., who was in the front passenger seat, pulled out a knife and handed it to the other girl, A.H., who was sitting in the back of the car with the victim, telling A.H., "You know what to do," according to the victim.
But A.H. handed the knife back and said, "I don't need this. Look what I got!" and pulled a stun gun out of her bag and activated it, according to the victim's account.
The victim tried to call 911 on her cell phone, she said, but the three teens wrestled the phone and her backpack away from her.
A 15-year-old witness who was in his driveway on Willard Place at the time saw the struggle later told deputies that the saw a young woman — the victim — try to get out of the car, but that the front-seat passenger got out of the car and hit the victim with the car door, trying to force her back inside.
When the victim pulled free, the attacker activated the stun gun and lunged at her with it, but missed.
The victim tried to run but was blocked by the rear-seat passenger, who "punched her in the head numerous times and grabbed her to prevent the victim from getting away," according to the arrest report.
Once the victim was able to create some space between herself and the attackers, J.F. stepped out of the car and yelled at M.Z. and A.H. to get back in the car.
They did, and the car sped away with the victim's belongings, according to the witness.
The victim's backpack was later found, but her wallet and cell phone were missing.
A deputy who interviewed the victim noted that she had deficits in communication, and that it took an extended period of time to determine what happened. Once deputies determined who the suspects were and got arrest warrants for them, all three confessed, according to an FCSO news release.
“Our team did a great job in working through several hurdles in this case and then working with the State Attorney’s Office to move forward with charges,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “I will never understand why some teens think this is proper behavior. I hope the suspects get the help they need to get on a positive track to be kind, respectful, and productive members of our community.”
The two 17-year-old girls were both charged with robbery with a weapon, false imprisonment, tampering with a victim/preventing communication to law enforcement, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and battery. M.Z. was also charged with obstruction of justice at the time of her arrest, and with possession of fentanyl, marijuana and methamphetamine.
J.F. was charged with robbery with a weapon and tampering with a victim/preventing communication to law enforcement.
All three have been turned over to the Department of Juvenile Justice in Daytona Beach, according to the news release.
