Carjacking Leads To Shooting Death Investigation In Pompano Beach
FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) - A carjacking in Boca Raton led to a shooting death investigation early Friday morning in Pompano Beach.
According to the Broward Sheriff's Office, they received word of the carjacking around 1 a.m.
Sheriff's deputies assisted Boca Raton police in tracking the car which came to a stop in the 1100 block of NW 18th Drive in Pompano Beach.
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The sheriff's office said Alex Exantus, 20, ran from the car and was taken into custody in a nearby apartment complex. Exantus is from North Lauderdale.
A woman, who did not want to be identified, said she watched from her apartment window.
"I saw a car parked over there and after the car thing, I saw the police coming and coming and I was like 'whoa, what's going on'. That's when I heard 'hey, put your hands up', like 'step out of the vehicle with your hands up'," she said.
Deputies found that person in the car, 23-year-old Ariel Collazo, was dead from a gunshot wound. A loaded firearm was found in the car.
Collazo is from Tamarac.
When our CBS4 team arrived, they noticed a group of possible family members who were emotional. One woman asked a deputy, "where was he shot?"
A cousin of the victim, who did not want to be identified, tells CBS4 the family has many questions about his death.
"He was always smiling. Trying to do right by his mother," she said.
The cousin explained that Colazzo helped with the family tax business.
Colazzo has a past criminal record. He was arrested before for attempted robbery and burglary.
The cousin said Colazzo did not have a gun to her knowledge and wonders why his life ended so tragically.
Exantus was arrested in 2017 for stealing a running car with a baby inside in Margate.
The Boca Raton Police Department will investigate the carjacking in their jurisdiction.
Exantus will face charges in connection with a carjacking in BSO's North Lauderdale district that occurred in the parking lot of an apartment complex at 10 p.m. Thursday night in the 1200 block of Hampton Boulevard.
The medical examiner will determine how Colazzo died.