HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – Hollywood police officers nabbed two teenage armed carjacking suspects using a new crime-fighting weapon known as a “Grappler” and it was all caught on camera.
It happened around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday near the 900 block of Hillcrest Drive.
Hollywood police said officers in the area located the stolen vehicle and deployed the Grappler which made the yellow Chevy Camero come to a complete stop near Washington and 56th Ave.
Police said Terrell Kirkland and Santiago Iglesias, both 17, were taken into custody after a gun that one of them threw out of the car during the police pursuit window was recovered at the crime scene.
The victim told police that he was coming home with groceries when both suspects, who were wearing ski masks, pointed a gun at his hip before taking off with his keys and car, according to an arrest report.
Authorities said they were able to catch up with the vehicle and attempted to make a stop, but the suspects continued to avoid police orders and crashed into another officer’s vehicle.
Surveillance video obtained by Local 10 News Wednesday shows when police got close enough, they were able to deploy one of the department’s newly received six Grappler devices, which wrapped a net around the rear tires and brought the vehicle to a controlled stop.
Police said Kirkland and Iglesias were transported to a juvenile assessment center in Broward County.
They are both facing charges of armed carjacking, fleeing and leaving the scene of a crash, according to jail records.
It is unclear if anyone was injured during the incident.
Local 10 News photographer Bryan Murphy contributed to this story.