MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — Javarus Hernandez and Fredrick Pickens, both 20 years old, were looking for crimes of opportunity on Feb. 16 in Miami-Dade County’s West Little River neighborhood, according to deputies.
The masked duo was searching for unlocked car doors in the gated parking lot of Regency Pointe Apartment Homes near Northwest 19th Avenue and 79th Street, according to deputies.
Surveillance video shows the thieves found a security guard resting in one of the parked cars and decided to steal from him. It was likely a decision they came to regret since they ended up injured and arrested.
The security guard was able to disarm one of them and shot them both, but not before he too was shot in the back of the head, according to deputies.
The security guard managed to call 911 and pin down Pickens, who appeared to have also been injured by the moving car he had been trying to steal, according to deputies.
Hernandez ran off, but deputies arrested him at the parking lot of a nearby Church’s Chicken restaurant. He appeared in Miami-Dade County court remotely from a hospital bed.
Prosecutors filed a case against Hernandez on Feb. 17 on three felony charges: Attempted murder with a deadly weapon, armed robbery, and armed carjacking.
Hernandez, who has a criminal history, remained behind bars without bond. His arraignment was March 18, and he has a trial hearing pending on June 15.
Pickens, who is a convicted felon, faced eight charges in two pending criminal cases in Miami-Dade County.
Prosecutors filed a case against Pickens on March 6 on four charges: Attempted murder with a deadly weapon, armed robbery, armed carjacking, and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.
Pickens’s arraignment was on March 30, and he also has a trial hearing pending on June 15.
Prosecutors had also filed a case against Pickens on March 10 on four other charges: Burglary of an unoccupied conveyor, third-degree grand theft of a firearm, using a credit card fraudulently, and criminal mischief. His arraignment was set for April 28.
Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Alberto Milian is presiding over the three cases.
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