After a short while, the deputies told the four men they were free to go.

The passengers went back to the car.

The driver didn’t move.

“So, I just thought that was strange, let him know again, ‘Hey, you’re free to go. You can leave if you want to. We’re standing here on the highway. I don’t want you to get hit,’” White said.

Eventually, the driver started walking, but behind his back, he flashed a signal to the deputies, using his hand to simulate firing a gun.

“That made the hair on my neck kind of stand up as well as my partner,” White said. “We kind of looked at each other like, ‘What is going on?’”

They called the driver back.

He asked them to act like they were writing him a ticket and told them what was going on.

“And he’s like, ‘These guys in this car, they’ve been holding me hostage. There’s guns in the car. I need help. Help me, please,’” White said.

The deputies went back and searched the car, found two guns hidden inside.

The three passengers were arrested.

They’ve been identified as Tsdekiel Sellers of Atlanta, Benyahveen Radcliffe of Buffalo, and Kashaveeyah Bragdon of Tallahassee.

According to Port St. Lucie police, the three men broke into the victim’s home, stole money, and then demanded he drive them to Miami, where they could access more of his money.

They weren’t expecting the victim to use bad driving to alert the police.

“His words were, ‘Dude, you’re so clutch. You saved me. I intentionally drove sketchy so you would stop me,’” White said.

The three suspects are currently in the Martin County jail but are expected to be transferred to St. Lucie County to face more serious charges, including kidnapping, carjacking, and home invasion.