Two Florida burglars allegedly tracked a couple using an Apple AirTag before briefly abducting them at gunpoint in their own garage during a terrifying home invasion officials called “every family’s worst nightmare.”
Luis Charles, 26, and Odardy Maldonado-Rodriguez, 32, are accused of sticking the location tracker to the bottom of the unsuspecting couple’s SUV before following them back to their Odessa home and ambushing them on Aug. 19, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said.
The brazen duo snuck up on the car occupants as they stepped out of their car in their driveway, grabbing the couple and rushing them inside the garage, according to video released by the sheriff’s office.
One of the men, wearing a high-visibility safety vest and a bright green shirt, pulled a weapon out of his pocket before he grabbed the woman out of the passenger seat.
The other suspect, dressed in darker clothes, a hoodie and a mask, snatched the male driver.
The armed men rushed the couple inside the home, but not before the woman fought back and forced the walking highlighter to carry her inside.
“To be ambushed at gunpoint in the very place you should feel safest is every family’s worst nightmare,” Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister.
An alarm was triggered inside the home and the two suspects fled the scene before cops arrived, the sheriff’s office said.
Charles was arrested by police in Tampa during a traffic stop on Oct. 8.
A police bodycam recorded the moment the wanted suspect was handcuffed outside his car. Two days later, Maldonado-Rodriguez was captured in neighboring Pasco County.
Both men were charged with a slew of charges including armed burglarly, two counts of armed kidnapping, robbery with a firearm, false imprisonment and illegal installation of a tracking device.
“Thanks to the work of our detectives, these dangerous criminals are now behind bars where they belong, and the victims, along with our community, can rest a little easier,” Chronister said.
While in custody, Charles was slapped with a sexual battery by a familial or custodial authority on a person between the ages of 12 and 18, according to jail records viewed by The Post.
The two suspects are being held in a Hillsborough County jail without bond.
A “Border Patrol – Federal, ICE Notification” hold was placed on Charles.
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