ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – A pair of 13-year old girls stole a pickup truck then led deputies on a chase, the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office said.
According to an arrest affidavit obtained Wednesday by News4Jax, both of the teens each face a felony charge of grand theft of a motor vehicle and a misdemeanor charge of resisting law enforcement without violence. One of the teens also faces additional an additional felony charge of fleeing and eluding law enforcement, and misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and operating a vehicle without a license.
The names of the two suspects were not disclosed in the affidavit because they are minors.
According to the affidavit, shortly before 2:40 a.m. Wednesday, a deputy was patrolling the area of Shores Boulevard and Travino Avenue when the deputy spotted a Toyota Tacoma pickup truck suspiciously parked in the median. A passenger door was partially open and the deputy assumed the truck was disabled.
As soon as the deputy turned on his emergency lights, he said, the truck took off heading South in the northbound lanes of Shores Boulevard.
The deputy noted in the report that the truck got up to 60 mph in the wrong direction of travel before going off road and almost striking a culvert. At one point, the truck slid sideways, the affidavit stated.
The road chase ended on Alcala Drive where the deputy said the truck slowed down and the two girls jumped out and started running into a wooded area while the truck continued to slowly move by itself. According to the report, the deputy managed to stop his vehicle, get out and jump into the truck to put it in park.
Other deputies were called in to help search and they said both teens were later found in a wood line area of Canopy Shores Park. The affidavit stated that one of the girls was only wearing underwear when she was captured and told deputies she was not wearing pants prior to the chase.
Deputies later learned the truck was stolen from a home on Cross Creek Place. The owner of the truck advised deputies he wanted to press charges.