Six teens, some barely old enough to drive, were arrested for grand theft auto, burglary, stealing $200,000 cash and two guns out of a Fort Pierce home.
The St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office says Jeremiah Laplace, 15, Joshua Sargeant, 14, Michael Bush, 14, Walter Walker, 16, Rural Scott, 15, and Shomari Smith, 14 drove up from Pompano Beach in a stolen car from Delray Beach and burglarized a home on Marina Drive in Fort Pierce.
The teens told detectives they entered through the back door and stole a safe from the home, a Porsche, and two guns.
The St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office says there was nearly $200 thousand cash inside the safe.
“It’s clear through the interviews with these thugs that they intentionally targeted our community, searched out a house in an affluent neighborhood and stole their life savings,” St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken J. Mascara said in a statement.
No one was at Laplace's home in Fort Lauderdale when we tried to reach family for comment. Detectives say Laplace told them he paid 80,000 in cash for a car he put under his mother's name and 25,000 dollars for a 2009 Mercedes for his brother. We were able to reach Laplace's brother through a family member, but he said he did not want to speak with us.
We were able to talk to Joshua Sargeant's grandfather at his home in Fort Lauderdale. The Sheriff's Office says Sargeant is the only one of the teens who did not confess to the Marina Drive burglary.
The teens are being charged as adults. They are all in jail. We were not able to reach some of their parents.