INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The Indian River County Sheriff’s Office has arrested D’Montay Deon Whigham, 21, of Gifford, on warrants stemming from an apparent attempted carjacking/armed robbery on Dec. 21, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
The incident occurred at approximately 10:15 p.m. The female victim, a 32-year-old Sebastian resident, called 911 to report she had been involved in a rear end collision, according to authorities. The 911 dispatcher reported what sounded like a disturbance before the line disconnected.
When deputies arrived, the victim told them the suspect’s vehicle had followed her from Barber Street in Sebastian and had been tailgating her car, according to the Sheriff’s Office. When the suspect’s vehicle bumped her car at the intersection of 45th Street and 58th Avenue, both cars pulled over. The victim got out and approached the suspect’s vehicle. She took a photo of the suspect’s license plate with her cell phone and called 911. The passenger got out of the vehicle and pointed a rifle at the victim.
The suspect struck the victim in the face several times with the rifle and took her cell phone, according to authorities. A witness observed the victim being struck and sounded his horn as he approached the area. This tactic was successful in causing the assailant to cease his actions, run back to his vehicle, and flee the scene. Both the victim and witness described the suspect’s vehicle as a black, 2-door Saturn.
The victim was transported to Indian River Medical Center by ambulance where she was treated for a broken orbital socket, a shattered nose, and abrasions, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Attempts to locate the suspects that night were not successful and the case was turned over to the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Section.
Detectives interviewed several witnesses who identified Whigham as the suspect after Whigham had been talking about the attempted robbery with several people around town, according to authorities. Several witnesses reported that Whigham had pulled the trigger of the rifle when it was pointed at the victim but the gun did not fire.
On Dec. 24 detectives located the unoccupied suspect’s vehicle in a parking lot near 14th Avenue and 16th Street in Vero Beach, according to the Sheriff’s Office. The car, a black Saturn, had white dirt near the driver’s side door, balding tires, and tree shaped air fresheners hanging from the mirror. The bald tires and air fresheners were described by the victim while the white substance was reported by the witness who sounded his horn as he approached the incident scene.
The driver of the vehicle was identified and interviewed, according to authorities. His involvement in the incident remains under investigation. Detectives obtained arrest warrants for Whigham and he was taken into custody on Dec. 26.
Whigham faces charges of robbery with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery with a weapon, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He is being held in the Indian River County Jail on $1.5 million bond.
