Background: Body camera footage from a Daytona Beach police officer shows him tasing the suspect (Daytona Beach Police Department). Inset: Jayden Brown (Volusia County Sheriff”s Office).
An 18-year-old man from Florida faces serious charges after an alleged attempt to steal cars from a BMW dealership, followed by an audacious bid to take a police officer’s truck. The incident unfolded with dramatic flair and has left Jayden Brown facing multiple legal hurdles.
The charges against Brown include three counts of grand theft auto, burglary of an occupied dwelling, and criminal mischief. The event took place on the evening of January 14, creating quite a stir in the Central Florida community of Daytona Beach, located along the Atlantic coast.
According to the charging affidavit, Brown, accompanied by his girlfriend and another friend, visited the BMW dealership around 5 p.m. Their intent was to purchase several vehicles, despite lacking the financial means or credit necessary to do so. This bold attempt was noted in the affidavit reviewed by Law&Crime.
Brown’s girlfriend revealed that he hadn’t slept for days and had been expressing delusions of grandeur, claiming he would soon be wealthy enough to buy three BMWs. Their friend also commented on Brown’s unstable state of mind, explaining that the group visited the dealership three times in a bid to figure out how to acquire a vehicle.
Law enforcement reported that Brown got into a heated argument with dealership management over his inability to make a purchase. During his final visit, he allegedly tried to enter several cars on the lot, declaring his intention to take a vehicle and leave. He then dashed to the dealership’s restricted area meant only for employees.
Once there, Brown reportedly accessed a BMW X7 and sat inside, seemingly searching for the start/stop button. An employee, who was cleaning the vehicle at the time, recounted hearing colleagues shouting at someone to leave just before the suspect leaped out of the car.
Both the suspect’s girlfriend and friend told authorities they did not know of Brown’s intentions beforehand.
The Daytona Beach Police Department provided body camera footage showing an officer arriving at the scene. The officer can be seen getting out of his truck when the suspect comes running around the back of it. The officer advises him to “get on the f— ground,” but the suspect opens the vehicle’s door, and the officer tases him.
The man alleged to be Brown screams in his incapacitated state lying on the door before the footage cuts and shows him handcuffed on the ground and being searched. “You tried to steal my car,” the officer says matter-of-factly.
“It’s alright, I’ll be out by tomorrow, it’s all good,” the suspect says after another cut in the video. More officers are standing nearby at this time. The suspect then proceeds to ramble, stating things such as “I get thousands of guns from who I know in the military a month” and “I didn’t steal anything yet; I was just trying to find out where my car was.”
“Yet,” an officer repeats.
“What do you have against me that you can do this right now?” the suspect says after another cut. “Get me out these cuffs or you lose your job tomorrow.”
Brown was transported to an area hospital to be checked out and then brought to police headquarters. While being transported, he appears to try and detach the camera from its position, and after being processed, he allegedly “began kicking the security camera in the holding cell, causing the frame of the camera to break.”
The girlfriend and friend of Brown were not taken into custody.
Brown made his first appearance in court the next day. He is scheduled to return for an arraignment on Feb. 10. He is not listed as currently in the Volusia County jail.
