The Associated Press
Cape Coral, Fla. (AP) -- Authorities arrested a man Friday following a pair of home invasions, a kidnapping and a police chase that ended with the suicide of his alleged accomplice.
Sheriff’s deputies arrested Michael L. Geist, 42, of Miami, without incident after he was found hiding near a home, said Lee County sheriff’s spokeswoman Ileana LiMarzi. He was turned over to Cape Coral police, who were investigating Thursday’s crimes.
“We are still not sure what the motive is,” Cape Coral police spokesman Angelo Bitsis said.
Suspect Dewel Snoderly, 40, of West Palm Beach, died in a stolen car of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head Thursday night as police chased the vehicle.
State prison records show Snoderly had a long criminal record and served at least four prison terms for violent crimes. Geist was released March 14 from state prison after a 10-month sentence for cocaine possession and battery.
Police say Snoderly and Geist were involved in a pair of home invasion robberies in Cape Coral that started early Thursday evening.
The crime spree began when two men walked into a Cape Coral house through an unlocked door and pointed a handgun at a 37-year-old woman and two children. The men demanded the keys to the woman’s 2003 Jeep Liberty.
The men left in the Jeep, leaving behind an older red Dodge pickup, which belonged to one of the suspects, police said.
Cape Coral police spokesman Angelo Bitsis said the men then went to another home and entered through an open garage door, forcing the homeowner into a Pontiac Grand Am and making him drive to south Fort Myers. They dropped the man off in the woods.
Cape Coral police put out a countywide alert for the men, and Lee County Sheriff’s deputies spotted the car with just Snoderly inside. Deputies do not know at what point men parted ways.
As deputies pursued the car at about 50 mph along U.S. 41, authorities said they could see Snoderly driving with a gun held to his right temple.
The car suddenly went out of control and as deputies approach it, they found Snoderly had shot himself.