Fort Myers Traffic Stop Ends Miami Corvette Robbery Suspect's 156-Mile Run

A 19-year-old man from Lehigh Acres is being held without bond after Miami police say he took part in an armed robbery at a downtown apartment building on the morning of August 14, then fled across the state in a Chevrolet Corvette before deputies caught up with him in Fort Myers and found a victim's stolen pill bottle hidden between his buttocks.

Xavier Vance Thompson now faces an armed robbery charge in Miami-Dade County, according to WPLG Local 10. The victim had been invited to an apartment on August 12 to socialize with Thompson, 22-year-old Giovanni Lee Veilleux, another man, and two women, the station reports. Two days later, Miami police say the gathering turned violent when the victim was confronted by Thompson, Veilleux, and three other men armed with pistols and AR-15 rifles.

A Chokehold, a Blocked Elevator, and Mocking Words

According to the station's report, the suspects restrained the victim in a chokehold, and one of them struck him in the head several times with an AR-15. Two suspects then escorted the victim toward the elevator and threatened him, but the elevator would not move because it required a key fob. The suspects allegedly mocked the victim after he pleaded for his belongings, with Veilleux reportedly telling him, “Give it up.”

Police say the suspects stole the victim's rose gold 22-inch Cuban link necklace set with baguette diamonds, his Chrome Hearts designer reading glasses, his red Nike shoes, his identification card, bank card, cash, prescription pills, and his cellphone. Once the confrontation ended, the victim ran down the stairwell to check whether his own vehicle had been taken from the parking garage; it had not. He then reported the robbery to a Miami police sergeant, per the same account.

License Plate Readers Track the Getaway Across the State

The suspects fled the apartment garage in a Chevrolet Corvette and a Dodge Durango, and downtown license plate readers captured both vehicles as they headed toward Interstate 95, the outlet reports. From there, prosecutors say the group made the roughly 156-to-170-mile run across South Florida toward Fort Myers, a trip that typically takes two and a half to three hours via Interstate 95 and Interstate 75 across Alligator Alley, according to Prestige Miami Express.

A Lee County Sheriff's Office detective spotted the Corvette in Fort Myers just after 11:45 a.m. that same day and conducted a felony traffic stop, according to the article. During the stop, the detective observed a foreign cylindrical object protruding from Thompson's rear area and searched him, finding the object concealed under his pants and boxers, between his buttocks. Thompson reportedly admitted that he knew he was not supposed to have the pills and said he had stuffed them down his pants when he saw the deputy's lights.

Stolen Prescription Bottle Becomes Immediate Evidence

The object turned out to be the victim's own pill bottle, bearing his name. Detectives identified two full pills inside as Adderall and the opioid buprenorphine. Under Florida's Adderall, or amphetamine, is a Schedule II controlled substance, while buprenorphine falls under Schedule III, according to Germain Legal. Florida's E-FORCSE Prescription Drug Monitoring Program registers controlled prescriptions to specific patients, according to the Florida Department of Health, meaning the labeled bottle immediately tied Thompson to the robbery victim rather than to a prescription of his own.

Deputies initially arrested Thompson on drug possession charges. He was later taken into custody by Miami-Dade authorities in connection with the armed robbery and was set to be transported back to Miami-Dade County to be booked on Friday, per the outlet's reporting. As of August 24, Thompson was being held without bond at the MetroWest Detention Center, a Miami-Dade County Department of Corrections facility in Doral that houses roughly 4,850 detainees on an average day, according to Miami-Dade County.

One Suspect Still Missing, Four Others Unidentified

Veilleux, also of Lehigh Acres, had not been taken into custody in either Miami-Dade or Lee County as of August 24, the report notes. Both suspects live in Lehigh Acres, an unincorporated Lee County community roughly 12 to 15 miles east of Fort Myers that falls under the patrol jurisdiction of the Lee County Sheriff's Office. Authorities say four other suspects involved in the robbery remain unidentified and unarrested, and the Dodge Durango used in the getaway has not been located as of the outlet's report.

If convicted of armed robbery, Thompson faces exposure under Florida Statute § 812.13(2)(a), which classifies robbery committed with a firearm or deadly weapon as a first-degree felony punishable by up to life in prison, according to Demmery Law. Florida's so-called 10-20-Life law, Statute § 775.087, separately imposes a mandatory minimum of 10 years in state prison for possessing a firearm during a violent felony such as armed robbery, per Terrezza Law. It remains unclear when Veilleux might be taken into custody or whether the four other suspects have since been identified.