Carjacking Suspect Shot By Victim's Friend, Arrested By Responding Deputies

Date Added: March 25, 2018 9:41 am

Andrew Gant
Office of Public Affairs & Media Relations

CARJACKING SUSPECT SHOT BY VICTIM’S FRIEND, ARRESTED BY RESPONDING DEPUTIES

A carjacking suspect was shot by a friend of his victim Saturday night in Deltona, and responding deputies arrived to find the suspect held on the ground with a gunshot wound to his leg.

The incident began shortly around 7:30 p.m. Saturday at a Walgreens store at 1925 Providence Blvd., where the victim met 32-year-old Michael Cintron-Rodriguez (DOB 12/31/1985) to sell him a Nissan Altima. The victim had a friend drive separately to the Walgreens to act as back-up in case the transaction went bad. The two were connected by Bluetooth devices for communication, and the friend was armed with a handgun.

Cintron-Rodriguez took the Altima for a test drive with the victim riding along, then agreed to buy the car. The suspect was sitting in the driver’s seat and handed a bundle of cash to the victim, who was in the passenger’s seat. The victim later told deputies while counting the money, he could tell it was all counterfeit.

When he realized the cash was fake, the victim communicated to his friend that the deal was going bad, and the friend approached the car. That’s when Cintron-Rodriguez accelerated and fled in the Altima with the victim still in the passenger’s seat. The two fought as Cintron-Rodriguez drove. When he stopped at a red light at Elkcam and Providence boulevards, the friend caught up, opened the driver’s side door and saw the two men fighting. He fired his gun, hitting Cintron-Rodriguez once in the leg.

Cintron-Rodriguez accelerated again, and the friend went back to his vehicle and pursued. He caught up to the Altima pulled over at the intersection of Elkcam and Oswego Avenue, opened the driver’s side door again, saw the two men fighting again, and dragged Cintron-Rodriguez out of the vehicle.

The two men were holding the suspect on the ground when they flagged down a deputy.

Cintron-Rodriguez was transported by Air One to Central Florida Regional Hospital in Sanford, where he remained in custody Sunday morning facing charges including carjacking, kidnapping and possession of counterfeit currency. His bond was set at $750,000.

The victim was treated for a hand injury at Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach.