LAKEWOOD RANCH, Fla. — Two stolen cars ended up in a pond and four people were taken into custody following an investigation into car burglaries in a Lakewood Ranch neighborhood, the Manatee County Sheriff's Office reports.
Just before 3 a.m. on Friday, a neighbor in the Harmony community contacted law enforcement to report "a group of five or six males in hoodies attempting to burglarize vehicles," the sheriff's office said. The caller also provided a description of the car that appeared to be with the group.
Deputies responded to the area and were able to quickly find the car that matched the description, in addition to another car involved. Deputies said they noticed three people running away from the area when they arrived.
When deputies tried to stop the cars, the drivers took off and a short pursuit followed, the sheriff's office said. It ended quickly and the two drivers got out of the cars with them still in drive, running from the area. The cars continued to roll and landed in a pond.
K-9 units were able to find one person, identified as a 15-year-old boy, hiding in some nearby brush. He complied with commands from deputies and was arrested, the sheriff's office says. K-9 units in the Central Park neighborhood found another person from the group who was identified as a 14-year-old boy. He failed to comply, deputies say, and was engaged by a K-9 and arrested.
Two others, a 16-year-old boy and 19-year-old Tyreak Allen, were found by K-9 units on a back patio of a home. Deputies said the two were also seen grabbing the rear sliding glass door of that home before they were arrested.
Through investigating, deputies learned that one of the cars in the pond was stolen from the Harmony neighborhood. The second car was stolen out of another jurisdiction. A third car stolen from the Harmony neighborhood was found two blocks away and deputies say the keys to that third car were found in Allen's pocket.
In addition, deputies discovered two firearms inside the cars.
Allen is charged with motor vehicle theft and loitering/prowling. The sheriff's office said in total three of the teens were charged with grand theft of a motor vehicle, two with aggravated fleeing to elude, two with burglary of an occupied dwelling, two with loitering and prowling and one with resisting arrest without violence.
10 Tampa Bay is not releasing the names of the minors who were arrested.
