JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Three suspects were arrested Monday following a chase after officers watched a man who was being kidnapped at gunpoint jump from a moving car in Arlington, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said.
JSO said officers were in the 700 block of Arlington Road around 8 a.m. when they saw a man jump from a passing car. Investigators eventually learned the man was abducted last night at gunpoint and jumped out of the car to escape. JSO said the car, a black Mercedes Benz that was being driven by one of the suspects, belonged to the victim.
JSO said officers went after the speeding car until the chase ended with a crash at the corner of Townsend Boulevard and the Arlington Expressway Service Road, near the campus of Seacoast Christian Avademy.
According to officials at the school, the school was placed on a Code Red lockdown for 20 minutes as police arrested the suspects.
“They was chasing them, then they ran straight into the fence of the school,” said one witness who asked not to be identified. “The officers told them to hop out the car, asked for the driver, nobody got out and then, I guess the rear passenger got out and I guess afterward, they got the driver.”
All three unidentified suspects were taken into custody and are being interviewed, JSO said.
At this time there are no outstanding suspects and we do not believe there is any concern for the community at this time.