OCALA, FL (352today.com) – The Marion County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) recently released video of a car chase which began when the driver of a vehicle without a license plate refused to stop for deputies. After the pursuit, deputies discovered a 14-year-old was behind the wheel, and two other juvenile passengers were in the car.
MCSO posted the video on its Facebook page. The video contains both dash cam video and footage from an MCSO helicopter and is produced with captions which narrate the details of the pursuit.
According to MCSO, the chase occurred in the early morning of Saturday, Aug. 19, at around 12:50 a.m. near Southwest Highway 200 and Southwest 95 Street Road, when deputies say the driver took off at a high rate of speed instead of pulling over. Deputies pursued the vehicle for several miles toward Ocala.
MCSO’s Aviation Unit got involved, too, and the AIR-1 helicopter began monitoring the chase from the skies as it progressed toward Ocala. When traffic got too congested, MCSO says the ground pursuit was cancelled. In the video, you can hear the pilot in the helicopter relaying that the driver went off road, across railroad tracks and continued driving offroad through a grassy area.
Ocala Police Department (OPD) officers assisted and were able to follow the vehicle and reportedly deployed stop sticks near SW 17th St. and Hwy 200. In the video, you can see sparks flying from the car, an indication that a tire’s destroyed.
When the vehicle made its way to South Pine Avenue, the chase resumed, including off-duty Deputy Jasmine Kephart. She performed two PIT maneuvers (precision immobilization technique, where the pursuer forces the fleeing vehicle to turn and stop). The second maneuver succeeded in ending the chase in the 2000 block of South Pine Avenue. Based on timecodes on the videos, the chase lasted about 12 minutes, ending at 1:02 a.m.
Deputies detained the 14-year-old and two juvenile passengers. The passengers were released to their guardians.
The opening text on the video asks, “Do you know where your children are?” and ends five minutes and 36 seconds later with the teen’s booking photo and the charges he’s facing.
The driver was arrested on charges of Fleeing to Elude a Law Enforcement Officer, Operating a Motor Vehicle without a License and Failure to Register a Motor Vehicle. He was taken to the Marion County Jail and then the Department of Juvenile Justice. Later, he was released to a mentor under supervision.
352today.com is not reporting the name of the driver because he is a juvenile. In most circumstances, it’s our policy to not report the names of juveniles charged in crimes.