NBC6’s Kim Wynne has more on the chase that went from Miami-Dade to Palm Beach and included Broward.
Two suspects are facing multiple charges after an intense high-speed police chase ended in a foot pursuit and armed standoff in a Broward County neighborhood Wednesday afternoon.
North Miami Police said the incident began with an armed robbery around noon in the area of Northeast 128th Street and North Bayshore Drive. No one was injured in the robbery, and the suspects fled the scene in a white Lexus, police said.
The Lexus was spotted in Opa-locka, and North Miami Police detectives requested assistance from other agencies to surround the car and take the suspects into custody.
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But before backup could arrive, the Lexus fled the area, traveling through several cities at a high rate of speed, police said.
Broward Sheriff's Office officials said deputies responded after receiving reports that the white Lexus sedan that had been stolen out of Miami-Dade was speeding through Broward.
Footage showed BSO, Florida Highway Patrol and other law enforcement agencies chasing the two-door Lexus northbound on the Florida's Turnpike in Broward and into Palm Beach before it came back into Broward.
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The Lexus exited the Turnpike and was seen weaving in and out of traffic on roadways, even going the wrong way down a busy street.
At one point, the Lexus stopped on a ramp and a suspect who was in the passenger seat got out and approached another car armed with what appeared to be a rifle.
After he couldn't get into the other car, he got back in the Lexus, which continued to flee.
Eventually, the Lexus stopped on Commercial Boulevard in Tamarac, where one of the suspects carjacked another vehicle, a four-door Tesla, at gunpoint, as the driver backed away with his hands in the air.
The other suspect fled on foot as the Tesla reversed before it crashed into another car, then tried to speed away but rammed head-on into a law enforcement truck. The second suspect then got out of the Tesla and initially laid on the ground as if to surrender before he got up and also fled on foot.
One suspect jumped a fence and was seen swimming across a canal to flee from authorities, who swarmed the area.
Leroy Foster lives in the Manor Parc neighborhood in front of the canal. He heard a helicopter above his home, so he went outside.
"Next thing I knew I saw the police officers, all the cars, coming through and they were chasing somebody,” Foster said. “I saw them chase a guy trying to jump in the water."
Foster said there are alligators in the canal, so he was surprised the suspect avoided them. He, like many of his neighbors, are now feeling uneasy.
"I was a little nervous and scared,” Foster said. "Very frightening, that means I would have to protect myself.”
Police then surrounded one of the suspects at a home off Northwest 54th Street in a nearby neighborhood with guns drawn. Authorities ordered him to surrender, and a short time later he walked out of the home.
The suspect who swam across the canal was taken into custody a short time later after he'd stripped down to his red underwear. He was put on a stretcher and loaded into the back of an ambulance before being taken to a hospital as a precaution.
The second suspect was also taken into custody, BSO officials said.
Officials later identified the suspects as Edward Foster and Matthew Geimer Jr., both 22. Both are facing charges including armed carjacking, attempted armed carjacking and aggravated fleeing and eluding.
Foster and Geimer were booked into the Broward jail where they remained on a U.S. Marshals Service hold, records showed. Attorney information wasn't available.
BSO officials said the FBI is handling part of the investigation.
Both man have lengthy arrest histories that include everything from aggravated assault, battery, burglary and grand theft of a vehicle, records showed.
No other information was immediately known.
Check back with NBC 6 for updates.
