On Talpa Street in Spring Hill on July 3, around 12:41 am, two teens, both armed with guns, robbed two teens who were able to identify them to law enforcement. The two male victims are 17 and 18, and told police that they were parked in front of a home on Talpa when a vehicle pulled up behind them. That’s when the suspects, the victims identified as Duke and Evan, exited their vehicle and approached the driver’s side of the victim’s vehicle.
According to HCSO, armed with guns, the suspects demanded both victims give them everything they had in their possession. One of the suspects took a wallet, while the other took a purse from the vehicle. Duke, age 16, and Evan, age 18, then asked the victims, “Where’s the money?”
After the incident, the suspects departed the scene in a white Jeep Compass.
Detectives tracked down the suspects to a home on the 11000 block of Elgin Blvd. ‘Duke and Evan’ were sitting inside the parked vehicle, along with two other people. All four individuals were detained at the scene. Detectives found a black ski mask on the driver’s seat of the suspects’ vehicle. They also spotted the grip of a firearm under the front passenger seat.
Detectives confirmed the identities of both suspects. Duke’s real name was released by authorities as armed robbery is a felony, and the identity of juveniles is not protected if they are suspected of a felony offense in Florida. Evan was identified as Evan Spears.
During questioning, Duke and Evan told investigators that they went to Talpa Street intending to commit a robbery, but the victims were not their intended target. Yet that did not deter them.
Duke, 16, was turned over to the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice in Ocala. While Evan Spears is being held at the detention center in lieu of a $20,000 bond.
Additional charges are pending further investigation, according to the HCSO news release.
