Cyclist kidnapped, forced into SUV and taken to ‘the compound,’ Florida police say

Four people face charges after a man said he was robbed, kidnapped and chased down by his accused captors as he tried to escape, according to Florida authorities.

According to Brevard County records, the accused individuals are:

• 37-year-old Jason Burkhalter: attempted murder, kidnapping, battery and robbery
• 31-year-old Shelby Sanchez: attempted murder, kidnapping, battery and robbery

• 32-year-old Jonathan Clayton: kidnapping, battery and robbery in the arrest affidavit

• 42-year-old Amanda Cobb: kidnapping, battery and robbery

McClatchy News attempted to reach the attorneys representing the four defendants July 3 but did not immediately hear back from the public defender’s office.

The 23-year-old victim was riding his bike in Cocoa on June 9 when he said an SUV containing two men and two women pulled up next to him, according to a June 26 arrest affidavit from the Cocoa Police Department.

The victim told police the group kept asking him about “the money,” which he didn’t know about, and they beat him and took his cellphone, while one threatened him with pepper spray, he told police.

When interviewed by police, Clayton told investigators the victim had “cheated” Sanchez out of $20 earlier in the day.

The group forced the man into the vehicle and began driving away, with Sanchez behind the wheel, the man told police. At one point during the drive, the victim said a call came on over the car’s speakers and a man on the line said “take him to the compound,” where he believed he would be tortured, police said.

When they arrived at the compound, one of the accused captors got him out of the car and unlocked the gate, at which point the man took the chance to run away, police said.

The two men chased him on foot, but the victim had a knife in his pocket and began waving it around, police said. Then Sanchez began driving after him, hitting him once with the SUV and continuing to chase him after he got up and kept running, according to police.

He eventually made it to a gas station, where he called 911, police said. Officers said he had tire marks on his clothes from the impact.

When questioned by authorities, Clayton and Cobb said the victim wasn’t forced into the SUV, and they denied being willing participants in the incident, according to arrest affidavits.

Cocoa is on Florida’s Atlantic Coast, about a 50-mile drive southeast from Orlando.

This story was originally published July 3, 2024 at 11:41 AM with the headline "Cyclist kidnapped, forced into SUV and taken to ‘the compound,’ Florida police say."