CarJacking and Robbery at Downtown Disney

[jillluvsdisney]

The Orlando Sentinel reported that very early Sunday morning and young couple from CT were
abducted from the Downtown Disney area and then taken to an ATM to withdraw money. They were dumped in a landfill in Osceola Co. They survived. They were approached by a couple of people who were in a car who asked them a question. When they stopped to answer, that is when the incident took place. The article also said they were WDW resort guests.

Wow. I guess you can never be too careful no matter where you are.

[BronxTigger]

Yeah I saw this in the news. This is from WNBC4 out of NYC:

Police: Conn. Couple Kidnapped At Disney World, Robbed

POSTED: 12:13 pm EDT June 10, 2007

A young Branford couple visiting Disney World narrowly escaped serious injured early Sunday morning after they were kidnapped at gunpoint and forced to withdraw money from an ATM, police said.

Police said the couple, Jessica Dellacamera and Justin Stetzer, was walking back to their hotel room after shopping at Downtown Disney just after midnight. As they were walking through the parking lot a man sitting in a Volkswagen Jetta, asked them a question, police said.

When the couple stopped to respond they were forced into the car at gunpoint, police said. The car was occupied by two other suspects, police said.

According to police, the couple was driven around for approximately 15 minutes, until they arrived at a gas station.

The male victim and one of the suspects went into the business where the victim was forced to withdraw money from an ATM.

Police said they returned to the car and drove around until making another stop at an unknown location.

The victims, still being held at gunpoint, were then driven to a remote location near a landfill in Osceola County, Fla.

Police said, once at that location, the suspects battered the couple, which began to fight back.

Police said that at some point during the fight, the male victim was struck in the head with the handgun.

The gun discharged apparently causing the suspects to panic and flee leaving the victims stranded.

Police said the couple was able to walk to a nearby home on Creekside Blvd. in Kissimmee where residents inside the home called the Osceola County Sheriff's Office.

Both victims received some bumps and bruises as a result of this incident, police said.

According to police, the suspects were able to get away with the cash taken from the ATM withdrawal and the purchases the couple had made while shopping at Downtown Disney.

Police said the primary suspect is a white or Hispanic male, 25- to 28-years-old, 6-feet tall, 180 pounds, with a short sleeved shirt.

Police said a second suspect is a skinny black male, and the third suspect is a white male, 5' 9", 160 pounds, mid 20's, wearing a white t-shirt and armed with a hand gun.

[GAN]

Sounds like a tough week -another incident occured last week where a couple police officers were shot in the Epcot parking lot while trying to apprehend a couple of people vandalizing cars. I got this info from a friend who was there the week before last -not sure if it was reported by the Sentinal or not.

[centralohio disneyfan]

It seems to me that this would have been reported somewhere like the incident at Downtown DIsney. If there is nothing to back it up, the post should be taken down.

[WDWizard]

The Orlando area seems to have a lot of problems with crime lately, and most of the time it is people trying to take advantage of tourists.

[faline]

Sounds like a tough week -another incident occured last week where a couple police officers were shot in the Epcot parking lot while trying to apprehend a couple of people vandalizing cars. I got this info from a friend who was there the week before last -not sure if it was reported by the Sentinal or not.

I believe the shooting you are referring to did not happen on Disney property. It was at the Caribe Royal Resort. Our Magical Express bus driver told us about it when we were on our way to Disney World a week and a half ago.

http://www.wesh.com/news/13411888/detail.html

I just heard about the Downtown Disney incident this morning on my local news. I'm glad the folks who were kidnapped are safe!

[SBETigg]

Bad things can happen anywhere, and I feel really bad for this couple but why were they walking through the parking lot to "walk back" to their hotel? Where were they staying? I would like to see more details on this. What an awful experience for them.

[LibertyTreeGal]

Bad things can happen anywhere, and I feel really bad for this couple but why were they walking through the parking lot to "walk back" to their hotel? Where were they staying? I would like to see more details on this. What an awful experience for them.

I wondered about the "walking back" bit too -- but then I remembered that of all the newspaper stories about me over the years not one of them has been completely accurate, not in quoting me or in getting the facts straight. The reporters are busily taking notes in shorthand sometimes and when they get back to the office they sometimes forget the exact context of what they wrote. Or they have a story to tell and they fudge it to make it sound better, so I treat these inconsistencies with a grain of salt.

[DDuck66]

Unfortunately, even at WDW people need to mindful of their surroundings and take precautions. I would never attempt to cut through the parking lots late at night to walk back to my motel. I would call a taxi from the last store or club that I was at if it was that late at night. Unfortunatley for this couple, they learned the hard way. I am just glad that they were not killed or seriously injured.

[bleukarma]

What a horrible thing that couple went through!!!

I heard on the news that Orlando has had a 120% increase in crime over the past year. Sad.

[Mackflava99]

Like every growing city, crime tends to grow with it, its not surprising that DW gets it too, thought i still feel that most of the people who go to the parks have good hearts and wouldnt do anything wrong. But like society, there are always bad eggs..
Its funny because i have a friend who's parents were in orlando 2 weeks ago and they got mugged on International drive- I told him, ' well if they were on Disney property, then
it would never happen.... " now i see this post and i had to eat crow..

[Sharon1026]

They could have been on the sidewalk on the parking lot side of downtown disney - cars drive there all of the time.

[mttafire]

Everyone needs to read the tread in "news rumors and imagineering" concerning this subject. It turns out this couple might NOT be just innocent victimes after all.

[iceicebritney]

its terrible what happened to this couple, and i am so sorry to hear this. i hope disney takes precautions and learns from this to toughen up security in all areas so that things like this dont continue to happen. there is no security gate at DTD's as at the other properties, so it is easier for anyone who wants to get in to do so.

its just interesting that DTD's parking lot cameras didnt publisize a photo of the car they were driving in, or its lisence plate to help find the suspects...

[January-2007]

This is so frightening! Seriously, there are no guards out around the parking lot area? There need to be! Makes me glad we stay where the groups of people are and take the busses with everybody else. Wow. They need better security, this is just scary.

[Carol]

This is already under discussion in the News forum. Please go there for updates and further discussion. It's much easier to follow along when a topic is in one place. Thanks.