JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. – A second person was arrested in connection with a home invasion robbery in late January that left a Jacksonville Beach neighborhood shaken, authorities said.
On Friday, the Jacksonville Beach Police Department announced, detectives, in a joint investigation with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, arrested Robert Leonardo Zaragoza Ortiz.
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He is charged with home invasion robbery, police said.
He was booked March 9 into the Duval County jail on charges of dealing in stolen property and false verification of ownership on a pawnbroker transaction form, but home invasion robbery charges were added Friday, according to jail records.
As of Friday, he was being held in the jail on $1.15 million bond and is set to appear in court Saturday morning, jail records show.
Police said he was the “second accomplice” in the home invasion robbery. The first suspect identified was Christian Javier Vazquez Ortiz, who was taken into custody earlier this month, according to police.
Police said Vazquez Ortiz approached that home on First Street South around 7 p.m. Jan. 27 wearing a blue and gray jacket with an Amazon logo and carrying a package, and an accomplice, who was later identified by officers as Zaragoza Ortiz, was with him.
Vazquez Ortiz told the woman who answered the door she needed to sign for the package, but when she went to grab a pen, Vazquez Ortiz pulled out a gun and forced his way inside, police said.
Police said Vazquez Ortiz ordered the woman to get into a closet, but the woman “fiercely fought him” and was able to escape through the living room into the backyard.
Vazquez Ortiz and Zaragoza Ortiz then fled the area, said police, who released surveillance footage.
The homeowners were out of town, but a family friend was pet sitting, the owner of the home told News4JAX.
Vazquez Ortiz was arrested March 8 and charged with two counts of home invasion robbery, four counts of aggravated assault, false imprisonment, possession of a firearm by a felon, dealing in stolen property, and false verification of ownership to a pawn shop. As of Friday, he was being held in the Duval County jail on $3 million bond.
An investigator said the man was believed to be responsible for other similar home invasion robberies in the Jacksonville area.
At the time, people living in the Jacksonville Beach neighborhood said they were shaken by the encounter.