Two men have been arrested in a violent carjacking at a Miami Gardens gas station over the weekend that left an elderly victim hospitalized, police said.
Ktwon Bailey, 33, and Christian Sarmiento, 27, were arrested on charges including attempted felony murder causing injury, false imprisonment, robbery carjacking, and aggravated battery on a person 65 or older, arrest reports said.
Miami-Dade CorrectionsMiami-Dade Corrections
Ktwon Bailey and Christian Sarmiento
According to the reports, the alleged incident happened Saturday morning at the Marathon Gas station at 4699 Northwest 183rd Street.
Officers who responded found the elderly male victim in a blood-soaked shirt, with a laceration above his right eyebrow and significant swelling to his right eye, the reports said.
The victim was airlifted as a trauma alert to Aventura Hospital for treatment, where a nurse later said he’d suffered severe injuries to his neck and head including bleeding on the brain, the reports said.
Investigators spoke with the victim who said he’d parked his 1987 GMC pickup and went into gas station to make a purchase and was coming out when two men approached and aggressively demanded money, the reports said.
When he said he didn’t have any money, he said one man started repeatedly punching him in the face and the other suspect went through his pockets and took his belongings, the reports said.
The man said he tried to get in his truck to leave but they held him against his will before one suspect got in and drove off in his truck while the other man fled on foot, the reports said.
On Saturday evening, the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office found the vehicle and detained three men who were inside, including Bailey and Sarmiento, and Sarmiento made a spontaneous statement saying he knew he was in custody for the earlier incident, the reports said.
The third man in the truck told police he’d been picked up by Bailey and Sarmiento and said Bailey told him that earlier he’d beaten up a man, the reports said.
Surveillance footage from the gas station showed both men interacting with the victim, who later identified Bailey and Sarmiento as the two men who attacked him and stole his truck, the reports said.
Both suspects were arrested and booked into jail.