Federal Agent Carjacked and Kidnapped By Four High School Students
jonathanturley
Four high school students picked the wrong guy to allegedly kidnap and rob. Texas border patrol agent Armando Alaniz was was vacationing with his family in Florida and was packing up his car when four teens jumped him and threw him into his car. Gregory McDonald, 19, Dante Askins, 18, and two other teens, 15 and 16, are accused of pistol-whipping the agent, tying him up, robbing him, and then abandoning him at a vacant drug house in Orlando. What is interesting is that an OnStar vehicle security representative called the car after the victim’s wife called police. The agent heard someone screaming for help and notified police.
The agent was confronted at gunpoint in an Orlando hotel parking lot Wednesday night as he was packing up his car. He was forced into the backseat, pistol-whipped, tied-up and robbed of his wallet. His was then held captive for two hours. His harrowing ordeal ended when the carjackers ditched the car at a vacant drug house and fled, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said.
Askins, who is a reputed member of the street gang Death Over Mercy, added to his problem by being picked up Thursday in a stolen car. He was previously charged in a serious offense but avoided prosecution. In 2013, he was charged as an adult at 16 with attempted murder in a drive-by shooting targeting a member of the rival Gorilla gang. His co-defendants received lengthy sentences but the charges against Askins were eventually dropped.
Sheriff Jerry Demings (right) stated that “[t]hese high-school students were playing a dangerous game, and they got caught playing a dangerous game.” That comment struck me as rather odd. Hanging on the back of city buses and running on roof top is a dangerous game. Carjacking, kidnapping, and pistol-whipping people are serious crimes committed by serious felons. The victim was beaten and robbed. I fail to see how the word game would come into play on any level of this crime.
