BROOKSVILLE, Fla. — Two men are accused of driving off in a woman's truck after she walked into a gas station store with one of her children, leaving another inside the car, the Hernando County Sheriff's Office reports.
Samuel Rorah, 28, of Lakeland, and Toby Barber, 47, of Spring Hill, both face multiple charges including carjacking and resisting arrest.
Just before 9 p.m., Saturday, Hernando County sheriff's deputies responded to the Speedway gas station on Cortez Boulevard on a report of a carjacking. A woman told authorities she drove up to a diesel pump to get gas in her 2000 Ford F-250 and walked into the store. One child went with her, she said, while another stayed in the backseat.
Once she walked inside, deputies say two men jumped into the woman's truck and began to drive off. However, they noticed the child sitting in the backseat.
While still in the parking lot, one of the men, later identified as Barber, got out of the passenger seat, opened the back door and pulled the child out of the truck, leaving them in the parking lot, deputies say. He then returned to his seat and they drove off going westbound on Cortez Boulevard.
Authorities say the child ran into the store to find their mom and explain what happened. The child also gave a little information about the driver saying he had "tattoos all over his arm."
After reviewing the surveillance video from the gas station, deputies were able to see the driver, identified as Rorah, and get a visual of his description. Due to the camera angle and the height of the truck, they were unable to get a description of the passenger.
The sheriff's office dispatchers alerted all units to be on the lookout for the stolen truck with its tag information. Deputies in an unmarked car say they were able to locate the truck near Mariner Boulevard and Cortez Boulevard.
The deputies say they began to follow the stolen truck and called in assistance from Florida Highway Patrol and Hernando County Sheriff's Office aviation unit.
The driver in the stolen truck made several turns and even tried to wave the deputies in the unmarked car past him before continuing to make more sharp turns and drive off faster, speeding through a stop sign. That's when deputies say they activated their emergency lights and sped off behind the stolen truck.
Authorities say Rorah attempted to make a sharp turn at Northcliffe Boulevard and Deltona Boulevard, then another at Mallard Street and lost control of the truck. Once the F-250 came to a stop in a nearby yard, both men exited the truck and fled on foot.
A deputy was able to catch the passenger, Barber, and placed him under arrest. Deputies were unable to catch Rorah so they brought in a K-9 unit. Deputies say, as the K-9 team searched through a wooded area, they came upon a man who they identified as the driver walking on Northcliffe Boulevard and placed him under arrest as well.
Rorah's charges include carjacking, knowingly driving while license is suspended/revoked and resisting arrest without violence. His bond is set at $26,500. Barber is charged with carjacking and resisting arrest without violence. His bond comes to $26,000.
