Bradenton men in custody after discussing armed robbery on Facebook, deputies say

Two Bradenton men are facing armed robbery charges after discussing on social media their crime before and after they committed the robbery, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.

Patrick Smith, 23, is being held without bond in the Manatee County jail after prior bonds were revoked while he was awaiting trial on felony possession of ammunition and resisting arrest charges.

Darquez Manning, 22, remains in custody on $50,000 bond.

Deputies say a childhood friend of Smith reached out to him on the night of June 27 to purchase some marijuana, but when the victims showed up at the drug buy in the 900 block of 60th Avenue Terrace West, they were robbed at gunpoint and beaten.

According to the arrest warrant, a physical struggle occurred during the robbery, at which time Smith told Manning to kill the victims. Deputies say Manning fired one shot into the victim’s tire before the two drove away with some of the victims’ property in their own vehicle.

Because the robbery occurred outside of Smith’s residence and he is well known to law enforcement due to multiple arrests since 2014, he was arrested the following day after being identified by the victims. However, Manning’s identity was not yet known, according to the sheriff’s office.

Through the investigation, detectives said they were able to first identify Manning on July 6 when a palm print from the victim’s vehicle led back to him. A DNA search warrant was executed on Manning a few days later.

Detectives also obtained a search warrant for Manning’s social media sites to include Facebook and Snapchat.

Detectives discovered a string of messages between Smith and Manning on the day of as well as the day after the robbery on his Facebook Messenger account.

According to the warrant, the two discussed when they were going to rob the victims just hours before the crime. Three hours after the robbery at about 1 a.m. June 28, Manning sent Smith messages saying, “Investigating,” and, “They ova in the area ... looking.”

Manning then asks Smith if he still has the victim’s gold chain.

Manning’s last message to Smith was to remind him to delete his messages.

The arrest warrant was issued on July 26 and Manning was arrested on Tuesday.