FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Fort Lauderdale police on Wednesday announced the arrests of five people, including one minor, and recovered a stolen Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon as part of an investigation into a string of high-end vehicle thefts in the city’s downtown area.
Authorities said the Fort Lauderdale Police Department’s Gun Intelligence Unit made the arrests late Tuesday with help from the Broward Sheriff’s Office Burglary Apprehension Team and Aviation Unit.
6 p.m. report:
They said three suspects were taken into custody in Fort Lauderdale:
- Jaesean Alexies, 19 – grand theft auto, resisting without violence, no valid driver’s license
- Kay’qwon Bruton, 18 – grand theft auto, resisting without violence
- Devada Hines, 16 – grand theft auto, resisting without violence
Police say two more arrests were made in Miami in connection with the stolen SUV. Those suspects, identified as alleged buyers, were booked by the Miami Police Department:
- Wayne Corts Jr., 36 – grand theft auto
- Jonathan Testaiuti, 37 – grand theft auto
The arrests come after a South Florida man, Andrew James, reported that his 2020 G-Wagon was stolen from a secured garage at his office building on Northeast Third Avenue on Saturday shortly before 8 p.m.
“It’s a controlled-access garage, and they still got in,” James told Local 10 News on Tuesday. “They removed the trackers, which takes some expertise.”
Noon report:
Security footage shows a suspect entering the garage, breaking into the vehicle, and driving off — all without the key.
Fort Lauderdale police told James the thieves likely exploited the vehicle’s VIN and used key-coding tools to gain access.
“There’s like coders that can code a key of a similar car,” James said. “And they can access the vehicle that way. This is information I got from the detectives.”
Police confirmed that James’ vehicle has since been recovered.
Saturday’s theft wasn’t an isolated case.
In late March, a dark gray 2025 G-Wagon was also stolen from a nearby garage on East Las Olas Boulevard, just blocks away. Police believe the cases are connected, and their investigation into both incidents remains active.
Both thefts have left residents in Fort Lauderdale on edge.
“Well, where is the car safe?” James asked. “If I can’t park it in the lot of a Triple-A building, lock it and go to work — what do I do? Do I chain it?”
“They’re taking vehicles and they are selling them for about a quarter of the value mostly on encrypted apps like WhatsApp,” Patrick O’Brien, a sergeant with FLPD’s auto theft division told Local 10’s Christian De La Rosa.
A source close to the investigation told Local 10 News that Alexies, Burton and Hines were charged for stealing the luxury vehicle and Corts and Testaiuti were jailed for trying to purchase the stolen G-Wagon.
Anyone with information about these or related thefts is urged to call Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477.
Local 10 News has requested the suspects’ arrest reports from Fort Lauderdale police. Corts and Testaiuti were not listed as inmates at the Broward Main Jail as of Wednesday evening.
