Report: Friendly hangout turned into armed robbery.
What was expected to be hanging out with a friend and smoking some weed turned into anything but Tuesday night.
Instead, the friend — 19-year-old Troy Hoff, of Lake City — brought another person with him to a residence on SE Craig Street and the pair robbed the victim and his roommate of their money and marijuana.
Hoff and the other man, 19-year-old Bryan Mendoza, of Branford, were arrested within hours in Suwannee County and transported to the Columbia County Detention Facility on Wednesday.
Deputies lined SE Craig Street on Tuesday evening after the incident, which was described at the time by the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office to be a burglary. It turned out to be a home invasion in which one shot was fired inside the residence.
According to a CCSO report, Hoff let the victim know he was going to stop by to hang out and smoke marijuana together. But when he arrived around 6 p.m. Tuesday, he had brought Mendoza with him. Once inside, Hoff and Mendoza displayed firearms and demanded money and the drugs.
After the victim retrieved his money, which was $1,200, and marijuana from a shoe box, the report states Mendoza pointed his firearm at the victim’s head and shoved him down on the couch. Meanwhile, Hoff pointed his firearm at the roommate, who shoved the gun out of his face, causing a shot to be fired over his head.
Once the shot was fired, the report states Hoff and Mendoza grabbed the shoebox and raced out of the residence and took off in a Chevrolet Tahoe.
The roommate told officers that after the gun went off, Hoff shoved him into a dog kennel, causing a laceration to his left rib cage.
According to the report, the victim followed in his own vehicle — a Hyundai. Mendoza, who was driving in the wrong lane, intentionally swerved to crash into the victim’s car.
Hoff then started to shoot out of the back of the Tahoe, causing its rear window to shatter, before they continued through the SunStop parking lot at the intersection of SE Baya Avenue and SE Country Club Road and south on Country Club Road.
At 6:47 p.m., Suwannee County sheriff’s deputies located the green Tahoe on a roadway, vacated. Utilizing a Florida Department of Corrections K-9 unit, officers were able to find 14 bags of marijuana in a nearby field, which was close to Hoff’s family.
SCSO deputies located and arrested Hoff by 11:20 p.m. Tuesday, who admitted to going to his friend’s house with the intention of robbing him with Mendoza.
Mendoza was arrested around 2 a.m. Wednesday.
The report states that SnapChat messages between the victim and Hoff indicate the victim was trying to sell “Plates,” “Zips” and “wax,” asking for 1400 for 12 ounces and wax, although deputies aren’t certain if that meant $1,400.
Hoff was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, discharging a missile into a dwelling, aggravated battery, home invasion with a firearm and discharging a firearm from a vehicle.
Mendoza was charged with aggravated assault, aggravated battery and home invasion with a firearm.