Three men were arrested in Palm Coast last week for allegedly stealing a vehicle in Seminole County and trying to flee from deputies. The chase for the suspects originated over an hour away, before the men were eventually apprehended in Palm Coast’s L Section.
The incident began on Thursday when the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office to inform them that a stolen silver Chevrolet Corvette was entering Flagler County. It was located at a gas station on Boulder Rock Drive, the FCSO says, parked at a gas pump with no one inside.
After the Corvette was spotted, deputies reportedly saw two men exit the gas station store. When they saw the deputies, the pair are said to have gotten into a silver Nissan and ditched the Corvette in order to flee the area. Deputies pursued and then reportedly tried to initiate a traffic stop. The driver of the Nissan did not pull over, instead driving onto westbound Palm Coast Parkway.
At this point the FCSO received assistance from the Flagler County FireFlight helicopter, which spotted the Nissan from the air and kept an eye on it in order to relay its location to pursuing deputies. The Nissan is said to have made it to US-1, where it turned right and began driving north toward St. Johns County.
Stop sticks were deployed on US-1 in order to puncture the Nissan’s left front tire. It then was said to have driven onto Matanzas Woods Parkway for over a mile and then onto Laramie Drive, where the two men from the gas station and one other man reportedly got out and ran away on foot. Eventually, deputies were able to apprehend them. They were later identified as 19-year-old Kameron White and 20-year-old Baqer Peake, both Jacksonville residents.
The third suspect was identified as 21-year-old Kyle White, also a Jacksonville resident. White wasn’t found by FCSO deputies until almost half an hour after the foot pursuit began. He was reportedly discovered amidst thick trees and bushes.
Kameron white was charged with fleeing with disregard for safety/property, grand theft of a motor vehicle, criminal mischief, possession of burglary tools, and nonviolent resisting an officer. His bond was set at $52,000. Baqer Peake was charged with grand theft of a motor vehicle, criminal mischief, possession of burglary tools, nonviolent resisting an officer, cannabis possession under 20 grams, and possession of drug paraphernalia. His bond was set at $35,000. Kyle White was charged with grand theft of a motor vehicle, criminal mischief, possession of burglary tools, and nonviolent resisting an officer. His bond was set at $32,000.
“I commend the teamwork from all the agencies and units involved in swiftly capturing these dirtbags who thought they could steal a car in Seminole County and come to Flagler County and not be caught,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “The last suspect caught hiding in the wooded lot came within a snout of being bitten by a K-9. Giving up was the only good decision he made. These Jacksonville dirtbags learned the same lesson that so many before them have had to learn the hard way that you cannot bring a stolen vehicle into Flagler County and expect to get away with it.”
Glad they got caught. But if the vehicle was stolen from the gas station. How can they be charged with “possession of burglary tools”?
The tools obviously were the belongings of the owner of the vehicle they stole. Doesn’t make sense.