NEAR FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (WSVN) — A man’s car ended up at the bottom of a South Florida canal after, police said, he was ambushed, attacked and left on the street, Friday morning.
According to the Broward Sheriff’s Office, 28-year-old Dannie Lee Harrington told deputies he was driving his Chrysler 300 along Northwest 43rd Street in Lauderdale Lakes when, at around 3 a.m., three armed men forced themselves inside his vehicle.
Harrington told investigators his attackers punched him, then smacked him with a gun.
Authorities said the four men ended up on Interstate 75, near U.S. 27. Harrington told deputies the subjects ordered him to pull over, forced him out of the vehicle and left him on the side of the road. Fortunately, a passing motorist picked him up.
Sometime after that, the subjects apparently ditched the Chrysler in the canal, located on the 800 block of Northwest 27th Avenue in unincorporated Fort Lauderdale.
7News cameras captured family members who had rushed to the scene recoiling as they watched BSO divers pull the vehicle from the murky water. They recognized Harrington’s car and at first believed he had drowned.
However, they soon learned he wasn’t in the vehicle. "I’m just relieved that he’s OK," said Ervin Bynes, the victim’s father. "I don’t know what happened."
Harrington is recovering at the Florida Medical Center.
BSO detectives are investigating the incident as an armed robbery, but do not have much information on the three men.
If you have any information on their whereabouts, call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a $3,000 reward.