A Florida man was able to save himself from a terrifying situation with some quick thinking and some extra pressure on the gas pedal.
The man, whose name has not been released, was described in a statement by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office as a Port St. Lucie dog breeder who had “boasted” online about having a lot of cash on hand. The internet brag attracted the attention of three men in their 20s who “posed as interested dog buyers,” then showed up at the man’s house to rob, assault and ultimately kidnap him, according to the sheriff’s office.
The trio broke into the victim’s home on June 16, “ransacking the residence” for cash before demanding more information about the lucrative puppies the man was breeding, according to a Port St. Lucie police report obtained by The Washington Post.
When the breeder said the puppies were not on the premises, but at his aunt’s home in Fort Lauderdale, the three men forced him to start driving there at gunpoint, according to the report.
It was en route that the dog breeder hatched a plan to escape. He began driving 15 miles over the speed limit, hoping to get pulled over on an overpass he knew law enforcement typically patrolled.
After the man was pulled over, Martin County Deputy Cameron White noticed something seemed amiss. First of all, the driver had an apparent “look of despair,” according to the sheriff’s statement. He also found it odd that the driver appeared reluctant to get back in the car after White let him off with a warning and had to be told twice that he was free to go.
“But as he was walking away and he put his hands behind his back and he made a gesture like he was shooting a handgun facing down, and that made the hair on my neck stand up,” White told local news station WPTV.
At that point, White told him to step away from the car and called for backup.
“We’re like, ‘Hey, what was that all about?’” White said. “He said, ‘These guys in the car are holding me hostage. There are guns in the car, and I need help.’”
The three men were arrested on a slew of charges, including kidnapping, assault and home invasion.