2 identified in high-speed chase in stolen car

Police: Chase began after shots fired at 2 females; 1 teen bitten by K9

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Police have released the names of two teenagers arrested after a high-speed chase in a stolen car Thursday that began after police say shots were fired at two females.

Decarl Haynes, 17, and David Mason III, 16, were both charged with felony auto theft. Mason was also charged with a misdemeanor of resisting an officer without violence.

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Two other minors involved in the incident have not been named by police because they were not charged with felonies.

Around noon Thursday, officers received a call from a witness who said four minors were firing shots at two females on Downing Street in the Murray Hill area near Riverside.

Police said there's no indication the females were hit by the gunfire, but they fled the scene before officers arrived.

Jacksonville Sheriff's Officer J.M. Mosley responded to the area and spotted a suspect vehicle, a dark Hyundai sedan, near Cherry and Downing streets. Mosley said Haynes, who was driving the car, made eye contact with Mosley and then turned down Cherry Street and then onto Remington Street. Mosley followed the car and called for backup. After another unit arrived, Mosley tried to conduct a traffic stop, turning on his lights as they entered the Interstate 10 eastbound ramp from Roosevelt Boulevard.

Haynes did not stop, Mosley said, and instead sped up and began changing lanes carelessly, forcing a high-speed chase that ended after the Hyundai exited Interstate 95 onto 8th Street and crashed into a culvert, narrowly missing some trees. Mosley said during the chase the car topped speeds of 110 mph and nearly caused several crashes.

Haynes, Mason and the two other minors fled the car on foot after the crash, but officers quickly apprehended them and took them into custody on Davis Street. No one was injured in the crash, police said, but Mason was bitten by a JSO K9 during the pursuit. He was treated for minor injuries by the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department.

Police later determined the Hyundai was a car reported stolen by 57-year-old Donald Levy Jr. around 7:15 a.m. Thursday off Bertha Street on the Northside. Investigations revealed the minors took the vehicle, according to police. One of the other minors told police that Mason had been driving the Hyundai earlier but switched with Haynes before the incident on Downing Street. Haynes and Mason were charged with car theft.

During the pursuit, a nearby school was alerted and placed on code yellow. 

Police are currently looking for the two females who were fired on.

Anyone with any information about the incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 866-845-TIPS.