NORFOLK, Va. – Two men have been indicted on charges stemming from multiple convenience store robberies.
According to the allegations in the indictment, 19-year-old Darrius Ford and 21-year-old Daniel Zeigler-Irizarry, Jr., robbed several convenience stores of cash and commercial products in the cities of Hampton, Newport News, Portsmouth, and Chesapeake.
Ford and Zeigler-Irizarry did not know that during the final robbery, a tracker was embedded in the stolen money.
Officials said using the signal emitted from that tracker, Newport News Police located the defendants in a stolen vehicle and attempted a traffic stop. Ford and Zeigler-Irizarry are then accused of leading police on a high-speed pursuit before crashing.
Both were apprehended a short distance away from the scene of the crash.
Ford and Zeigler-Irizarry, Jr. are charged with conspiracy to interfere with commerce by means of robbery, seven counts of interference and attempted interference with commerce by means of robbery, and six counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence.
If convicted, Ford and Zeigler-Irizarry, Jr. face a mandatory minimum sentence of 42 years in prison.
