Masked group broke into home at 2:45 am to beat and interrogate man, FL cops say

A group of masked intruders broke into a Florida home in the night and dragged one of the residents away for a violent interrogation, according to investigators in the Panhandle.

It happened around 2:45 a.m. Monday, May 12, near Fort Walton Beach and the injured man ended up in a hospital, the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office reported in a May 14 news release. Fort Walton Beach is about a 40-mile drive east from Pensacola.

“The victims reported a group of masked, armed individuals entering the home ... hitting and pepper spraying one of the residents, then forcing him into a car and beating him again at a trailer on Carlos Drive,” the sheriff’s office said.

“He told deputies the intruders said they were looking for someone, but he didn’t have answers to their questions. He managed to escape and get to a convenience store on Racetrack Road, where deputies found him bruised and bleeding.”

Details of the man’s condition were not released.

Deputies were able to locate the mobile home he escaped on Mooney Road, and began surveillance, officials said.

“Three of the individuals involved were spotted returning to the home and immediately detained,” the sheriff’s office said.

Investigators have not released details of why the man was targeted.

The suspects have been identified as Joe Trejo, 27, Lennys Cotto, 30, and a 17-year-old, officials said.

Trejo and Cotto live in Ocala, about a 345-mile drive southeast from Fort Walton Beach, officials said. The two adults were charged with armed burglary and kidnapping, and the teen was charged with “kidnapping and providing a false name to law enforcement,” the sheriff’s office said. The teen lives in Eustis, about a 390-mile drive southeast from Fort Walton Beach.

This story was originally published May 15, 2025 at 7:29 AM with the headline "Masked group broke into home at 2:45 am to beat and interrogate man, FL cops say."