Overview
- Deputies stopped a pickup on U.S. 1 in Flagler County on Dec. 31 after a citizen reported suspicious activity and found an 11-year-old reported missing from St. Johns County.
- Detectives say the child reported being lured to a Flagler Estates campsite, choked unconscious, threatened with a knife and a gun, bound, gagged with duct tape, and forced to ride hidden on a truck floorboard for days.
- Searches of the truck, the suspect’s home, and the campsite recovered duct tape, surveillance equipment, and weapons consistent with the child’s account, according to the sheriff’s office.
- On Jan. 2, investigators obtained an arrest warrant adding kidnapping of a child under 13, aggravated child abuse, battery by strangulation, and robbery with a deadly weapon; Darnell Hairston, 60, is now held without bond.
- A 15-year-old who fled the stop led a high-speed chase, rammed a patrol car, and crashed before being taken into juvenile custody on multiple charges as detectives assess potential co-conspiracy.