PHOTO: Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office

HAHIRA, Ga. – On Monday, January 14, 2019, around 2:30 a.m., a 911 call was received in Lowndes County from a terrified cab driver.

According to Lowndes County Sheriff Ashley Paulk, the cab driver had picked up a passenger, Joshua Brandon Sexton, 18, in Panama City Beach late Sunday night.

Upon entering the cab, Sexton instructed the driver to take him to Hahira, Georgia to meet his girlfriend and bring her back with him to Florida. Sexton told the cabbie he had a knife and would kill him by stabbing him in the neck with it if he didn’t do what he said, according to LCSO Captain Stryde Jones.

“It turned out to only be an ink pen,” Captain Jones said, adding, “a regular ole ink pen. But the driver didn’t know. He was scared, understandably.”

The cabbie drove.

According to LCSO, the two made their way north and even stopped a couple of times at convenience stores but no attempts to escape were made.

The pair made it to Hahira. After the cabbie dropped Sexton off, he ran from the car and dialed 911.

LCSO responded and deputies, along with a K9 unit, tracked Sexton successfully to Hall Webb Road and made an arrest in the 4400 block of Shiloh Road.

According to Captain Jones, the minor girlfriend, 14-years-old, was aware that Sexton was on his way to see her and the two had been communicating online. Her parents reportedly were aghast when they were informed.

Sexton, who is named at this point as “homeless,” is facing kidnapping charges and is currently in custody at the Lowndes County Jail. There were outstanding warrants for him in Florida for resisting arrest, according to Bay County Sheriff’s Office reports.

Captain Jones stated that LCSO is working with authorities in Panama City Beach, Florida and are investigating further.