Teen Arrested After Deputies Pursue Stolen Vehicle In Pinellas: Watch

PINELLAS COUNTY, FL — A 16-year-old was arrested after deputies spotted him driving a stolen vehicle, leading to a pursuit through a shopping center and a brief foot chase, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a social media post. (Watch aerial video footage of the pursuit below.)

The stolen vehicle was spotted traveling east on Ulmerton Road on Thursday. Deputies kept their distance as the PCSO Eagle helicopter launched to monitor the vehicle from above.

The driver eventually turned into a shopping center near Park Boulevard and 49th Street and began weaving through the parking lot, the agency said.

When a deputy approached from the opposite direction, the driver accelerated away, cutting across the parking lot and continuing toward a nearby CVS parking lot. The driver stopped long enough to let a passenger out of the vehicle before continuing toward the far side of the lot, deputies said.

A deputy blocked the vehicle's exit while another deputy following behind closed in, leaving the driver with nowhere to go, the sheriff’s office said.

The driver then got out and ran a short distance on foot before encountering a deputy who deployed a Taser on him, authorities said.

The teen was arrested and charged with grand theft of a motor vehicle, fleeing to elude, resisting arrest without violence, and driving without a valid driver's license.

The suspect initially told deputies the vehicle belonged to his grandmother, which investigators later determined wasn’t true, the sheriff’s office said.

The sheriff’s office didn’t name the teen suspect. It’s also Patch policy not to name minors accused of crimes unless they’re charged as an adult. It’s not known whether the teen was charged as a juvenile or an adult.

Because the suspect is 16, additional information about his identity and the case may be limited under Florida juvenile record laws, PCSO said.

Watch video footage of the pursuit:

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