NEWBERRY, FL - Four teenagers lost their lives fleeing police in a stolen vehicle during a high-speed chase. Speeds during the pursuit got up to about 111 MPH.
The incident occurred on April 20 and began when a stolen Honda CRV was spotted speeding on State Road 100.
“We confirmed with the Gainesville Police Department that they still had that car entered as stolen, and the officer waited until he had three backup units with him before he initiated the traffic stop,” Bradford County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Brad Smith said, “They did start to pull over on the shoulder of the road, but before they came to a complete stop, they accelerated again, and that is when the chase was on.”
Law enforcement officers, including Bradford County deputies and Florida State Troopers, quickly responded, trying to stop the vehicle.
The speed of the stolen vehicle reached up to 111 MPH. At that point, many officers were forced to back off as they could not keep up. “The [Florida] Highway Patrol was, at that point, the only vehicle that could actually keep up with them,” Smith said. “Our vehicles cannot match the speed that they were going, but we did continue one of our units to try and stay as close as they could as a backup unit to FHP until Alachua County’s units were able to catch up to them.”
Despite efforts to stop the fleeing vehicle, it was a Florida Highway Patrol trooper who ultimately brought the chase to an end.
Using a special technique called a Precision Immobilization Technique (PIT maneuver), the trooper forced the Honda to collide with a utility pole, causing it to flip over.
“The Trooper made intentional contact with the Honda, causing it to decelerate,” the Highway Patrol released in a statement. “The Trooper used the break in speed to perform a Precision Immobilization Technique (PIT maneuver) on the fleeing Honda to stop the threat created by the fleeing suspect. The Honda subsequently rolled over before making contact with a cement pole.”
The crash was severe, and it took over 90 minutes for first responders to rescue the occupants from the wreckage.
Two of the teenagers were pronounced dead at the scene, while the other two succumbed to their injuries at the hospital.
Among the victims were Jabril Chevers and Lawrence McClendon Jr. McClendon was a sophomore defensive back on the high school football team.
The tragedy compounded the grief for Lawrence's family, who had recently lost his older brother, Jermaine Godbolt, just a month prior. Godbolt was killed in a shooting.
“It’s concerning when you have so many deaths back to back, but all we can do as a community is wrap our arms around each other, love each other, ask ourselves what we need to be doing, and then do it,” Newberry Mayor Jordan Marlowe, who also teaches at the boy’s school, stated to reporters.
McClendon's family started a GoFundMe to cover funeral costs after he and the boys "lost their lives in a car accident," the campaign states.
The incident occurred on April 20 and began when a stolen Honda CRV was spotted speeding on State Road 100.
“We confirmed with the Gainesville Police Department that they still had that car entered as stolen, and the officer waited until he had three backup units with him before he initiated the traffic stop,” Bradford County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Brad Smith said, “They did start to pull over on the shoulder of the road, but before they came to a complete stop, they accelerated again, and that is when the chase was on.”
Law enforcement officers, including Bradford County deputies and Florida State Troopers, quickly responded, trying to stop the vehicle.
The speed of the stolen vehicle reached up to 111 MPH. At that point, many officers were forced to back off as they could not keep up. “The [Florida] Highway Patrol was, at that point, the only vehicle that could actually keep up with them,” Smith said. “Our vehicles cannot match the speed that they were going, but we did continue one of our units to try and stay as close as they could as a backup unit to FHP until Alachua County’s units were able to catch up to them.”
Despite efforts to stop the fleeing vehicle, it was a Florida Highway Patrol trooper who ultimately brought the chase to an end.
Using a special technique called a Precision Immobilization Technique (PIT maneuver), the trooper forced the Honda to collide with a utility pole, causing it to flip over.
“The Trooper made intentional contact with the Honda, causing it to decelerate,” the Highway Patrol released in a statement. “The Trooper used the break in speed to perform a Precision Immobilization Technique (PIT maneuver) on the fleeing Honda to stop the threat created by the fleeing suspect. The Honda subsequently rolled over before making contact with a cement pole.”
The crash was severe, and it took over 90 minutes for first responders to rescue the occupants from the wreckage.
Two of the teenagers were pronounced dead at the scene, while the other two succumbed to their injuries at the hospital.
Among the victims were Jabril Chevers and Lawrence McClendon Jr. McClendon was a sophomore defensive back on the high school football team.
The tragedy compounded the grief for Lawrence's family, who had recently lost his older brother, Jermaine Godbolt, just a month prior. Godbolt was killed in a shooting.
“It’s concerning when you have so many deaths back to back, but all we can do as a community is wrap our arms around each other, love each other, ask ourselves what we need to be doing, and then do it,” Newberry Mayor Jordan Marlowe, who also teaches at the boy’s school, stated to reporters.
McClendon's family started a GoFundMe to cover funeral costs after he and the boys "lost their lives in a car accident," the campaign states.
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Comments
2024-05-04T13:52-0400 | Comment by: Nelson
Sorry I don't feel sorry for criminals when they run from the police