INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Deputies used Facebook and Snapchat to track down two armed robbery suspects who stole $120 from a victim at Vero Lake Estates, officials said.
Joseph Quiles, 19, and a 17-year-old, both of Vero Beach, each were charged with armed robbery with a deadly weapon. Details on if a third suspect was charged were not available and a fourth suspect is still at large.
Joseph Quiles
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY INDIAN RIVER COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
The teen’s booking photo was not available.
The victim told deputies he knew the 17-year-old through a mutual friend and that they both agreed to hang out about 9 p.m. Tuesday in the 8500 block of 97th Court. The two communicated through Snapchat and met by the lake on the north side of Vero Lake Estates.
Deputies did not specify why the two wanted to meet.
The teenager and victim began walking toward the lake when three other male subjects came out from a wooded area. The victim said the 17-year-old then pulled out a small bat from underneath his sweater.
He said two of the male subjects who came from the woods held their guns to the victim at close range. A third subject also had a bat in his hands.
The 17-year-old said to the victim, “Just give us your money, it’s not worth it,” according to an arrest report. The suspects then stole the money, got into a vehicle and fled the scene.
The victim showed deputies messages he and the 17-year-old exchanged through Snapchat, a social media app. The teenager gave the victim two addresses during their past conversations.
Deputies found the 17-year-old’s Facebook profile. Then, deputies took the victim to one of the addresses the teenager sent him and found three male subjects.
The victim was able to identify the 17-year-old and Quiles as two suspects being present during the armed robbery. He wasn’t sure if the third subject was present during the robbery and told deputies a fourth suspect was still missing.
Quiles and the teenager denied being involved in the armed robbery, deputies said. The third male subject later admitted to deputies that the 17-year-old told him they were leaving to “go hit a lick,” a slang term that refers to robbery.
The third subject told the teenager he didn’t want to go, deputies said. Both Quiles and the 17-year-old were arrested and taken to the county jail. Quiles has an arraignment at 8:30 a.m. Feb. 28 in court, court records show.
