Teens arrested after fleeing from police in stolen vehicle, cops say

Two teens were arrested Wednesday after Sarasota police say they were in a stolen vehicle and then tried to flee when officers attempted to pull them over.

The driver was a 16-year-old boy and his passenger, a 13-year-old girl, police said. The driver is facing felony charges of motor vehicle theft, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and fleeing to elude. The girl was also arrested and charged with felony motor vehicle theft, police said.

Sarasota police officers were dispatched to the area of 12th Street and North Washington Boulevard in Sarasota, based on a stolen vehicle report from the North Port Police Department. Officers from North Port tracked the stolen vehicle to the area of South Lido Beach and asked for assistance.

When officers spotted the stolen vehicle in the 1500 block of Benjamin Franklin Drive around 6:45 a.m., they attempted to stop the vehicle but it fled.

The driver continued fleeing, and ended up in the northbound direction of the southbound lanes of South Boulevard of the Presidents. Before officers knew the vehicle was traveling the wrong way, they set up stop sticks in the northbound lanes at the Polk Drive intersection.

As officers were repositioning themselves, they saw the vehicle’s headlights coming toward them. They were only two or three feet from the vehicle’s front bumper when they threw the stop sticks at the hood of the car and leaned back against the side of their patrol vehicle to avoid being struck.

The car was successfully stopped at the intersection of North Washington Drive and John Ringling Boulevard, police said.

The girl was arrested at the scene and the driver was arrested at his home on Wednesday afternoon.

The teens face additional charges from the North Port Police Department.

This story was originally published January 4, 2018 at 9:39 AM with the headline "Teens arrested after fleeing from police in stolen vehicle, cops say."