HASTINGS, Fla. – Four teens have been captured after they escaped from the Hastings Youth Academy early Friday morning, according to the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office.
The juveniles have been identified as Dominic Putnam, 16; Raham Hicks, 16; Michael Neal, 15 and Kenneth Pfuntner, 17. They were charged with battery on detention staff, robbery, depriving an officer of communication, false imprisonment, petit theft and escape from a juvenile detention facility.
Hicks struck the 76-year old security guard in head, causing him to fall to the ground. He then took the guards keys and radio and locked him in the room, police said. Then, Hicks let the other inmates out, and the four fled from the facility.
The teens then stole a 2014 GMC Sierra pick-up truck from Cracker Swamp Rd, police said.
Deputies searched in the air and on the ground for the four boys. Kelshaw sent an update just after 3 a.m. Friday saying deputies had found the boys and took them into custody. Deputies say the boys were found in a 2014 GMC Sierra pick-up that had been reported as stolen from Cracker Swamp Rd. After an attempt to stop the truck at a traffic stop, the four were located inside the vehicle a short time later when police used stop sticks and a PIT maneuver to intentionally force the truck off the road in the area of S.R. 206 and S.R. 207.
Video shows the moments those teens were caught included a heavy police presence and deputies surrounding a truck. The boys were taken into custody a short time after the escape.
Last year, a now-former staff member was accused of giving two teenagers permission to have sex at the facility and the sheriff's says she even acted as their lookout.
She was charged with child neglect and being a principle to lewd and lascivious battery.