Four people were taken into custody Tuesday after a high-speed chase that ended with a dramatic crash that sent a getaway vehicle onto two wheels at an Oviedo intersection, police said.
According to the Oviedo Police Department, officers were staking out the Oviedo Mall in an effort to stop vehicle break-ins during the busy holiday season.
Tactical officers believed a shoplifting was about to take place and started to move in on a suspicious vehicle backed into a parking spot, investigators said.
Four people, one man and three women, came running out of the Dillard’s, jumped into the car, rammed an unmarked police cruiser and sped off, police said.
Officers reported clocking the car going 80 mph on Aloma Avenue.
When the car reached the intersection of Aloma Avenue and Dean Road, the driver tried the smash through several vehicles, sending the getaway car onto two wheels, witness Javier Tapining said.
“They hit both vehicles, kind of flipped in the air (and) landed in the middle of the street,” he said. “That’s when the cop slammed on the brakes over there, comes out of his vehicle (and) starts beating on the windows with his gun drawn.”
Officers ordered the car’s occupants to exit the vehicle and took them into custody, Tapining said.
The Florida Highway Patrol identified the driver of the getaway car as Daquez Warren, 18, of Largo.
The other three individuals in the car were not identified.
Officers said the four appeared to have been spooked by a security guard and did not steal anything from the Dillard’s.
Charges are pending in the case, investigators said.
"Like an episode of cops!" Eyewitnesses describe the scene when @OviedoPD say four people led them on a high speed chase, then crashed through two cars on two wheels! What happened at the Oviedo Mall Dillards that started the whole thing on @WFTV at 10 & 11. pic.twitter.com/5C9xwv7Q0n
— Lauren Seabrook (@LSeabrookWFTV) December 20, 2017
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