INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A 50-year-old Vero Beach man was seriously hurt after two or more suspects beat him, stole the keys to his truck and struck the victim with the vehicle as they sped away, deputies said.
The suspects approached the victim from behind near a BP gas station, a sheriff’s report shows. It was not immediately clear if the suspects had been captured Wednesday afternoon.
Indian River County deputies responded to reports of an armed robbery about 9 p.m. Jan. 24 at the gas station, located in the 4300 block of 20th Street. Deputies spoke with the victim, who was bleeding from the mouth and had a cut to the back of his head.
The victim told deputies he walked inside the gas station to buy a pack of cigarettes. When he returned to his truck, which was parked in a parking lot behind BP, the suspects attacked the victim, reports show.
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The victim said the suspects punched him repeatedly in the face. One of the suspects pulled out a black handgun and struck the victim in the back of the head, reports show.
The suspects ordered the victim to hand over his keys, which he did. The suspects then got into the victim’s black 2005 Dodge Ram pickup truck and struck the victim while driving away from the scene, reports show.
A witness told deputies he saw the pickup drive south on 43rd Avenue from 20th Street. Indian River County Fire Rescue crews transported the victim to Lawnwood Regional Medical Center & Heart Institute in Fort Pierce, Battalion Chief Kyle Kofke said.
Employees at the BP gas station said there was no surveillance footage available of the armed robbery. Further details on the incident were not immediately available.