Police arrest four in Miami Beach robbery

Police arrested four people in connection with an armed robbery Sunday in Miami Beach.

According to cops, two victims were returning to their car parked in the public lot at 73rd Street around 10:30 a.m. when Normarie DeJesus, 19, and Braulio Abel Duran-Columna, 21, accosted them. DeJesus held a Taser to one of the victim’s neck while Duran-Columna struggled to snatch her purse. DeJesus later told police she used the Taser on both victims before fleeing in a Nissan Altima.

A female victim was taken to Mount Sinai Medical Center, according to Miami Beach police spokesman Ernesto Rodriguez. She had non-life-threatening injuries.

As the suspects sped away, a witness took a picture of the Altima’s license plate, which would later prove helpful to police.

A chase ensued across Biscayne Bay on the JFK Causeway and up into Miami Shores, where the Altima crashed into a police car after turning around at a dead-end street in a neighborhood. The police car was disabled, but Duran-Columna was able to restart the car and drive away with DeJesus and two other passengers.

No police officers were injured.

Detectives later located the vehicle and followed it to Hialeah, where they pulled the car over and arrested the the two assailants along with two other passengers. At that time, police said DeJesus and Duran-Columna admitted to the robbery and implicated the other passengers, 25-year-old Yonelis Echavarria and 29-year-old Keon Glanton.

The victim’s property and the Taser were recovered form inside the car.

All four face armed robbery charges. Duran-Columna is also charged with aggravated battery on a police officer, and Glanton is charged with resisting arrest.

This story was originally published February 7, 2016 at 11:44 AM with the headline "Police arrest four in Miami Beach robbery."