Three Bradenton teens arrested after high-speed police chase
Some Bradenton residents awoke early Monday morning to the screech of tires and sirens.
Neighbors came out of their homes or peered out windows as deputies and police officers screeched down their quiet streets closely following a car. Three teens jumped out of the car, reported stolen out of Palmetto, at the intersection of 12th Avenue West and 17th Street West and took off running.
All three were apprehended and subsequently arrested. The three Bradenton teens, one 13 years old and the others 15 years old, were each charged with motor vehicle theft and resisting arrest.
The chase — which lasted about 15 minutes — involved deputies from the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office and officers from the Bradenton and Palmetto police departments, reaching speeds of up to 100 mph.
A sheriff’s deputy first spotted the stolen car just before 2 a.m. in the 500 block of Eighth Street West in Palmetto, and began the pursuit. Palmetto police officers joined in providing backup as the pursuit crossed over the Green Bridge over the Manatee River into downtown Bradenton.
Bradenton police officers joined the pursuit as did other deputies, providing sufficient backup for Palmetto police officers to disengage.
As the chase entered city streets near 14th Street Wst approaching the Ware’s Creek neighborhood, deputies say their speed averaged 40 to 70 miles per hour. Video of the chase captured by the Bradenton Herald shows deputies and officers close behind the stolen car.
The chase continued after the three teens bailed out of the car and they were quickly apprehended.
A 15-year-old Bradenton boy was driving the stolen car and a 13-year-old Bradenton girl was sitting in the backseat , according to arrest reports.
The front seat passenger, a 15-year-old Bradenton girl, was carrying a red and white checkered backpack when she was handcuffed. As she was walked to a patrol car, she blurted, “There’s a lot of (expletive) in this backpack,” according to a probable cause affidavit. “I have two guns and some weed in here, and it’s all mine, just so you know.”
When deputies checked the backpack they found two loaded handguns, a .40 caliber Glock and a 9 mm FMK. They also found an extra loaded magazine for the Glock handgun. Inside a smaller bag was some marijuana, authorities said.
She is facing additional charges: one count of burglary and two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm by a minor.
The Bradenton Herald is not naming the suspects because of their ages.
A police chase in Palmetto about an hour earlier may have been connected, according to Police Chief Scott Tyler. That chase involved a stolen pickup but police pulled back because of the potential danger.
Police believe it may have been the same teens involved in the later chase, according to Tyler, and are investigating the connection with the sheriff’s office.
Herald staff writer Giuseppe Sabella contributed to this report.
This story was originally published April 13, 2020 at 3:36 PM.
