Teens arrested for armed car hopping in Mandarin, Southside

Jacksonville, FL — Three teens have been arrested for allegedly car hopping to celebrate a birthday, but police have provided some disturbing details of the incidents they say the teens are connected to.

WOKV previously told you about an incident that was caught on a doorbell camera in a neighborhood off Old St. Augustine Road in Mandarin on Monday. A suspect concealing his face and holding a gun could be seen walking up to the home and testing the front door handle. The incident report says that suspect then joined an accomplice, who was ransacking the homeowner's unlocked vehicle. The pair made off with a gas card, according to the report.

Now, JSO has identified those suspects as 18-year-old Benjamin Huger and 18-year-old Dakota Harney, but it’s not the only incident they’re charged with.

JSO says they were called early Monday to another home, this time off Baymeadows and I-295. Police say the victim told them he woke up to a black man standing over him in his bedroom. The victim told police the suspect fled when he realized the victim was awake, but the victim’s handgun and cellphone were both missing from his nearby dresser.

Police say video surveillance showed two suspects walking into an open garage, and showed the lights on the vehicles in the garage coming on. Both male suspects were seen running from the home a few minutes later. JSO says both vehicles had been unlocked, and both were found with the driver-side door open.

JSO says two prints at that Southside scene came back as belonging to Huger. After being mirandized, JSO says Huger admitted to carhopping to celebrate his birthday. He reportedly said they had found the garage door, vehicles in the garage, and home door all unlocked, while admitting to taking the victim’s handgun- which has since been recovered.

Huger and Harney have been arrested for armed burglary and burglary to a conveyance, with police saying the charges are connected to both of the crimes. A third suspect, 18-year-old Deja Terry, has been arrested for armed burglary, burglary to a conveyance, and loitering for the Southside scene, although police have not said her specific role in what happened.