Sheriff’s Office Media Release

The Indian River County Sheriff’s Office has arrested 21 year old D’Montay Deon Whigham on warrants stemming from an apparent attempted carjacking/armed robbery on December 21, 2013.

The incident occurred at approximately 10:15PM on December 21, 2013. The female victim, a 32 year old Sebastian resident, called 911 to report she had been involved in a rear end collision. The 911 dispatcher reported what sounded like a disturbance before the line disconnected.

When deputies arrived, the victim told them the suspect’s vehicle had followed her from Barber Street in Sebastian and had been tailgating her car.  When the suspect’s vehicle bumped her car at the intersection of 45^thStreet and 58^th Avenue, both cars pulled over.  The victim got out and approached the suspect’s vehicle.  She took a photo of the suspect’s license plate with her cell phone and called 911.  The passenger got out of the vehicle and pointed a rifle at the victim.

The suspect struck the victim in the face several times with the rifle and took her cell phone. A witness observed the victim being struck and sounded his horn as he approached the area. This tactic was successful in causing the assailant to cease his actions, run back to the suspect vehicle, and flee the scene. Both the victim and witness described the suspect’s vehicle as a black, 2 door Saturn.

The victim was transported to Indian River Medical Center by ambulance where she was treated for a broken orbital socket, a shattered nose, and abrasions.   

Attempts to locate the suspects that night were not successful and the case was turned over to the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Section.

Detectives interviewed several witnesses who identified D’Montay Whigham as the suspect after Whigham had been talking about the attempted robbery with several people around town.  Several witnesses reported that Whigham had pulled the trigger of the rifle when it was pointed at the victim but the gun did not fire.

On December 24, 2013, detectives located the unoccupied suspect’s vehicle in a parking lot near 14^th Avenue and 16^th Street in Vero Beach.  The car, a black Saturn, had white dirt near the driver’s side door, balding tires, and tree shaped air fresheners hanging from the mirror. The bald tires and air fresheners were described by the victim while the white substance was reported by the witness who sounded his horn as he approached the incident scene.

The driver of the vehicle was identified and interviewed.  His involvement in the incident remains under investigation.

Detectives obtained arrest warrants for Whigham and he was taken into custody on December 26, 2013. He was charged with robbery with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery with a weapon, and  possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He is being held in the Indian River County Jail on $1.5 million bond.