MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) — A 14-year-old boy who thought he was meeting up for a simple clothing sale ended up staring down the barrel of a gun, according to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, which says a coordinated overnight response led to the arrest of four suspects, including three teenagers, before sunrise.

Investigators say the teen arranged the meeting through Snapchat with someone he believed he knew, planning to buy or resell clothing. His friend drove him to the meeting spot near Beach Road and Deer Point, just outside a Lighthouse Point neighborhood, around 1 a.m. When he got into a white vehicle with people he recognized from the area, he noticed everyone inside was dressed in black and covered up — but got in anyway. Moments later, he was in the back seat with a gun pointed at his face.

“I couldn’t imagine being 14 years old and having a gun pointed at my face in the middle of the night,” said Maj. Ruben Romero, Martin County Sheriff’s Office.

The suspects went through the teen’s pockets, took cash and a watch he believed was a Rolex — later determined to be a fake — then pushed him out of the car and drove off, deputies said. He called 911 immediately, prompting a large-scale response from Martin County’s midnight shift, K-9 units and aviation unit. A deputy soon spotted a matching vehicle, a white Kia with four men in black and ski masks, near Monterey Road and US1. The vehicle sped off, sparking a chase that stretched west along Pratt Whitney Road before looping back toward town.

“It’s the unknown,” Romero said.

You don’t know what they’re going to be up to if they’re willing to rob a 14-year-old. What else are they willing to do?”

Deputies deployed stop sticks to disable the vehicle, and all four occupants ran on foot into the High Point neighborhood. Investigators say one suspect tossed what appeared to be a rifle from the car during the chase; it was later identified as a .22 caliber gun made to resemble an assault rifle. Three suspects were caught together in nearby woods after K-9 units closed in, while the fourth was found later hiding underneath a vehicle in front of a nearby home, located by the aviation unit’s thermal technology.

All four suspects are Martin County residents who knew of each other through the neighborhood and social media, though investigators say they weren’t close friends. The driver, 18, faces charges of armed robbery along with fleeing and eluding.

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The other three suspects, all under 18, are also charged with armed robbery. The teen who was robbed was able to identify all four, helping investigators quickly connect the case. Search warrants for the suspects’ phones and the vehicle are pending, and the stolen watch has not been recovered.

Romero said the case is a reminder for parents to talk to their children about the risks of meeting up with people they only know through social media, even for something as ordinary as a clothing sale.

“Parents do have to be involved, and they have to be honest with their kids about what dangers there are out there,” Romero said.

Romero also urged residents who hear a helicopter overhead at night to stay inside rather than go looking for the source, and for drivers who come across an active police chase to pull over and stop rather than try to maneuver out of the way.