Miami Gardens, FL - A South Florida man has been arrested after stealing a backpack and driving erratically to throw two people from the hood of his getaway car.
Davie Police say 27-year-old Dante Lewaun Austin snatched the backpack from a chair outside the Poke Ramen restaurant and fled in a red Nissan Altima around 7:30 p.m on June 6th.
The backpack's owner and another witness jumped on the hood of Austin's Nissan as he drove off.
Austin allegedly swerved sharply several times until the pair fell off the vehicle's hood..
The two were transported to HCA Westside Hospital in Plantation for road rash and other injuries.
Investigators say Austin used credit cards in the backpack to spend nearly $590 at a Publix and Chevron in Fort Lauderdale.
Officers traced the Nissan's license plate to an address in Plantation. A short time later, officers located Austin in the parked vehicle, but the suspect ran when approached by police.
The suspect was caught with help from a police helicopter and K9 officer.
Austin was taken to the Broward County Jail where he remains without bond on charges of armed robbery, aggravated assault, and fraud.