Three teenagers allegedly kidnapped a wealthy man at gunpoint and drove him to a remote Arizona desert to steal $4 million in cryptocurrency in a sinister plot.
Austin Fletcher and Belal Ashraf, both 16 and from Pasco County, Florida, allegedly teamed up with a third, as-yet-unidentified teenager to target the victim, who has remained anonymous.
Prosecutors said at Fletcher’s probable cause hearing on Friday that the third teenager is no longer in the United States. It is not clear if authorities know where they are or if they plan to extradite them.
A juvenile court judge ruled that Ashraf and Fletcher will face charges as adults, including robbery, kidnapping, and extortion.
The horror robbery allegedly unfolded last November when the man told police that he had been forced into a car at gunpoint before being driven to the White Hills area, around an hour outside Las Vegas.
The victim said he had been hosting a cryptocurrency event in downtown Las Vegas that evening, and was ambushed by the three teens when he returned to his apartment complex.
Court records cited by 8NewsNow showed that the teenagers allegedly wrapped a towel around the man’s head and ‘told him not to look at them’, and warned him that ‘if he did not comply, they had his dad and would kill him.’
They told him that if he complied and handed over his digital assets, he ‘would live to see another day.’
Austin Fletcher (pictured in court this week) and Belal Ashraf, both 16 and from Pasco County, Florida, allegedly teamed up with a third, as-yet-unidentified teenager to kidnap a wealthy man at gunpoint and steal $4 million in cryptocurrency
The three teenagers were reportedly high schoolers in Florida, and drove to Las Vegas to target the man after he hosted a cryptocurrency event and ambush him when he returned home
After driving the man out into the desert, the three teens allegedly demanded his banking passwords and threatened to murder him if he refused.
Prosecutors added in their filings that the teenagers appeared to be on the phone with another person during the ordeal, which the victim said he could hear through speakerphone.
When his cryptocurrency accounts were drained, the man was then left out in the Arizona desert as the teens drove off, prosecutors say.
The victim only found safety after walking over five miles through the barren desert until he found a gas station, where he called a friend to pick him up.
According to authorities, the teens were linked to the attack through a vehicle that traveled from Florida to Nevada beforehand, and visited key locations including the victim’s apartment.
The vehicle was also reportedly tracked to a stop in Mississippi, where a gun owned by one of the suspect’s family members was then seen in a social media post shared by one of the teens, police said.
Prosecutors said the teens drove the man across the Arizona state line, around an hour outside of Las Vegas
The teenagers allegedly abandoned the victim in the remote area in the White Hills, Arizona desert (pictured) and left him to walk over five miles to find safety
According to authorities, the teens were linked to the attack through a vehicle that traveled from Florida to Nevada beforehand, and visited key locations including the victim’s apartment
In court this week, Fletcher (pictured) was handed a $4 million bail as the shocking allegations were heard by a judge
Court records cited by 8NewsNow showed that the third, unidentified teenage suspect may have gone to high school with Fletcher and Ashraf in Florida and they were involved in ‘disturbances’ at the school.
In one such instance, the three teens ‘were reported as swearing in English and Arabic’, and Ashraf was ‘observed shoulder checking a school resource officer’ and screaming in the face of an assistant principal, records said.
In court this week, a Las Vegas judge set Fletcher’s bail at $4 million, rejecting his attorney’s request for him to serve house arrest.
This decision came after a different judge allowed Ashraf to be released with electronic monitoring days before.
Fletcher and Ashraf are next due in court in June.