POMPANO BEACH, Fla. – A large police presence was spotted early Friday morning inside a Pompano Beach neighborhood, which authorities said was the result of a carjacking that occurred earlier in Boca Raton.
According to Broward Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Carey Codd, Broward Regional Communications received a call shortly before 1 a.m. regarding a dark-colored Cadillac that had been stolen during a carjacking in Boca Raton.
Codd said deputies tracked the vehicle, which came to a stop in the 1100 block of Northwest 18th Drive in Pompano Beach.
Codd said one passenger, Alex Exantus, 20, of North Lauderdale, fled from the car and was later detained inside a nearby apartment complex.
“It was loud, noisy, sirens, screaming, yelling -- you know, ‘Get down, get down!’” Ennist Peete, who lives in the area, told Local 10 News. “I heard one shot and I heard some serious moaning, Iike, ‘uhh! uhh!’”
Codd said another man, identified as Ariel Collazo, 23, of Tamarac, was found dead inside the stolen car from an apparent gunshot wound.
A loaded gun was found inside the Cadillac and no deputies discharged their guns during the incident, Codd said.
Local 10 News reporter Madeleine Wright was at the scene in Pompano Beach Friday morning and said deputies could be seen speaking to some people who appeared to be family members of at least one of the people involved in the incident. She said some started crying while speaking to authorities.
One of the women later told Wright that the man who died was her nephew.
BSO homicide detectives are investigating the circumstances surrounding the case. The Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office will determine Collazo’s official cause and manner of death.