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A traffic stop in Flagler County on Dec 31. led to the rescue of a missing 11-year-old boy and the arrest of registered sex offender Darnell Hairston. Once separated from Hairston, the 11-year-old victim immediately told a deputy he had been kidnapped, was in danger, and feared for his life.Flagler County Sheriff’s deputies secured the visibly traumatized child before Hairston attempted to flee on foot and was arrested. The child, who had been missing for three days, was taken to a local hospital.FCSO said the victim told them how Hairston had lured him to a wooded campsite in Flagler Estates, where he was choked unconscious.The child stated that when he woke up, he was threatened with a knife and a firearm, tied up with shoelaces and an extension cord, and had duct tape placed over his mouth.Also found in the truck with Hairston and the 11-year-old was a fifteen-year-old boy, who faces charges for allegedly fleeing from deputies in the truck before ramming into a cruiser and crashing. According to an arrest report, the fifteen-year-old and the eleven-year-old were in a group chat on Snapchat where the 11-year-old was talking about Hairston being a sexual predator because of what he did to an unnamed victim. Sheriff Rick Staly said this may have been related to a sexual assault under investigation in saint Johns County, allegedly involving Hairston. “The fifteen-year-old was aware of this information and told Hairston, and it appears that they concocted a plan to lure the 11-year-old to this rural area in Flagler county and then kidnap him and hold him,” Staly said. “Now what they were going to do after that we don’t know…”According to the arrest report, at one point, Hairston told him, “he could cut his throat right now, or he could be respectful and shoot him in the head, front or back.” “Told us that he thought they were going to kill him,” Staly said of the 11-year-old.According to information from the Sheriff’s Office, the victim was held at the campsite for multiple days and forced to hide on the floorboard of Hairston’s truck, covered by a blanket, during travel.Search warrants executed on Hairston’s vehicle, his Hastings residence, and the campsite—with assistance from the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office—recovered evidence consistent with the child’s statements, including duct tape, video surveillance equipment, and weapons.Detectives determined that Hairston was aware the child was missing and endangered, but could not provide a motive for keeping the child from his parents.Sheriff Rick Staly commented, “Clearly, thanks to ‘see something, say something’ and our deputies recognizing the victim was very afraid, we rescued a missing child who was in fear Hairston had planned to kill him.”The investigation remains active and ongoing. The second juvenile who allegedly stole Hairston’s vehicle and fled the traffic stop was arrested on charges including grand theft of a motor vehicle. He is in the custody of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice and is being investigated as a possible co-conspirator in the kidnapping, which may lead to additional charges.Hairston was initially held on a $125,000 bond for resisting arrest and attempting to disarm a law enforcement officer. However, a subsequent investigation by the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Major Case Unit resulted in additional charges being served via a warrant on Friday, Jan. 2. These charges include kidnapping of a child under 13, aggravated child abuse, battery by strangulation, and robbery with a deadly weapon. Hairston is currently being held without bond at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility.
A traffic stop in Flagler County on Dec 31. led to the rescue of a missing 11-year-old boy and the arrest of registered sex offender Darnell Hairston.
Once separated from Hairston, the 11-year-old victim immediately told a deputy he had been kidnapped, was in danger, and feared for his life.
Flagler County Sheriff’s deputies secured the visibly traumatized child before Hairston attempted to flee on foot and was arrested.
The child, who had been missing for three days, was taken to a local hospital.
FCSO said the victim told them how Hairston had lured him to a wooded campsite in Flagler Estates, where he was choked unconscious.
The child stated that when he woke up, he was threatened with a knife and a firearm, tied up with shoelaces and an extension cord, and had duct tape placed over his mouth.
Also found in the truck with Hairston and the 11-year-old was a fifteen-year-old boy, who faces charges for allegedly fleeing from deputies in the truck before ramming into a cruiser and crashing.
According to an arrest report, the fifteen-year-old and the eleven-year-old were in a group chat on Snapchat where the 11-year-old was talking about Hairston being a sexual predator because of what he did to an unnamed victim.
Sheriff Rick Staly said this may have been related to a sexual assault under investigation in saint Johns County, allegedly involving Hairston.
“The fifteen-year-old was aware of this information and told Hairston, and it appears that they concocted a plan to lure the 11-year-old to this rural area in Flagler county and then kidnap him and hold him,” Staly said. “Now what they were going to do after that we don’t know…”
According to the arrest report, at one point, Hairston told him, “he could cut his throat right now, or he could be respectful and shoot him in the head, front or back.”
“Told us that he thought they were going to kill him,” Staly said of the 11-year-old.
According to information from the Sheriff’s Office, the victim was held at the campsite for multiple days and forced to hide on the floorboard of Hairston’s truck, covered by a blanket, during travel.
Search warrants executed on Hairston’s vehicle, his Hastings residence, and the campsite—with assistance from the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office—recovered evidence consistent with the child’s statements, including duct tape, video surveillance equipment, and weapons.
Detectives determined that Hairston was aware the child was missing and endangered, but could not provide a motive for keeping the child from his parents.
Sheriff Rick Staly commented, “Clearly, thanks to ‘see something, say something’ and our deputies recognizing the victim was very afraid, we rescued a missing child who was in fear Hairston had planned to kill him.”
The investigation remains active and ongoing. The second juvenile who allegedly stole Hairston’s vehicle and fled the traffic stop was arrested on charges including grand theft of a motor vehicle. He is in the custody of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice and is being investigated as a possible co-conspirator in the kidnapping, which may lead to additional charges.
Hairston was initially held on a $125,000 bond for resisting arrest and attempting to disarm a law enforcement officer. However, a subsequent investigation by the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Major Case Unit resulted in additional charges being served via a warrant on Friday, Jan. 2. These charges include kidnapping of a child under 13, aggravated child abuse, battery by strangulation, and robbery with a deadly weapon. Hairston is currently being held without bond at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility.
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