Watch: Man grabs machete, chases off armed robbers

SARASOTA (FOX 13) - A machete-wielding homeowner confronted three would-be robbers early Thursday morning, holding one of them for deputies and chasing the others off in a dramatic melee that was caught on surveillance video.

According to the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, it was just after 4:45 a.m. when several suspects targeted a home on Dodge Avenue with the intention of robbing the men who were relaxing there.

The home’s surveillance video shows the hooded men burst onto the porch waving a shotgun, machete, and a crowbar.  One of the residents disappears out of view, then returns waving his own machete as the suspects scramble.  Before long, the suspects are scrambling over the fence as other residents and even a small dog chase them around.

The residents disarmed one of the suspects, later identified as Alen Beltran-Vazquez, and held him until deputies arrived.  Deputies soon caught up with the two other would-be robbers in their suspected getaway car at a nearby gas station, along with two more suspects.  

All five men, said to be from South Florida, are being held at the Sarasota County Jail without bond.