COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – A man wanted for a deadly 2023 South Florida shooting was captured more than 1,000 miles away in Colorado, federal authorities said.
De Sean Phang, 28, was taken into custody Tuesday after a high-speed chase just outside of Colorado Springs, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
Recommended Videos
Authorities said Miramar police issued an arrest warrant for Phang on Jan. 17 in connection with a shooting that left a boy, identified as Joel Vilsaint, dead in the 1800 block of South Hiatus Road on March 22, 2023.
Authorities arrested Juliean Sellmon, of North Miami Beach, on a murder charge the following month. Nearly two years later, Phang now joins the 26-year-old in facing charges.
Officials said they received word that Phang was possibly hiding in the Centennial State, “moving between Colorado Springs and the south Denver metro.”
They said the U.S. Marshals Service’s Colorado Violent Offender Task Force spotted Phang in a rental car in south suburban Denver and headed south to the Colorado Springs area.
Colorado Springs police tried to pull over the vehicle occupied by Phang and others, but the driver took off and police pursued the vehicle, authorities said.
Colorado Springs ABC affiliate KRDO reports that speeds in the chase reached 100 mph; the driver eventually stopped in a store parking lot outside of the city limits in the Widefield area and all occupants, including Phang, ran away.
The station reports that the suspects sideswiped an innocent driver during the pursuit, but no one was hurt.
After being apprehended, Phang was taken to the El Paso County jail awaiting extradition to South Florida.
Authorities said the other occupants were apprehended but did not identify them.