BUNNELL, Fla. – A 16-year-old is facing multiple felony charges after deputies said he drove a stolen car through St. Johns and Flagler counties with five other children along for the joyride.
According to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were alerted around 3:30 a.m. Sunday by the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office that a vehicle stolen from Jacksonville was headed toward Flagler County at speeds of more than 100 mph on U.S. 1.
FCSO deputies eventually spotted the white Hyundai driving south on U.S. 1 with no headlights on, deputies said.
Deputies said they lost sight of the vehicle for a little while but later found it crashed and empty near U.S. 1 and Wellfield Grade.
Deputies said they found three of the kids inside the wood line, just west of the crash site. They told deputies three more children who were in the vehicle had also run from the stolen car.
The FCSO Drone and K-9 Units responded to search for the remaining kids in the nearby woods. Two were found in the woods, and the last was found later near Matanzas Woods Parkway and U.S. 1.
One of the teens initially told deputies that a man had held them at gunpoint in the car while fleeing through multiple counties, but investigators later figured out one of the teens -- a 16-year-old -- had been driving the stolen car.
Because of his age and the nature of the charges, News4JAX is not naming the teen who was arrested.
The other juveniles said they had asked the driver to stop the car and let them out while fleeing from law enforcement, but he refused to stop.
The driver was taken to Advent Health – Palm Coast for evaluation of his injuries from the crash and later taken to the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility for processing.
He was charged with Grand Theft – Motor Vehicle, five counts of Child Abuse Without Great Bodily Harm, Reckless Driving with Damage to Person/Property, and Leaving the Scene of a Crash with Property Damage. He was also issued several Uniform Traffic Citations. He was released to a parent by the Department of Juvenile Justice.
“These juveniles took their stolen car joyride too far and the juvenile driver is now facing several felony charges,” said Sheriff Rick Staly. “Fortunately, the other kids were not injured, and they did not injure anyone else as this could have been a deadly joyride.”
The other five children were released to their parents.