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Fleeing Teen Injured In Crash, Sarasota Deputies Say

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Latisha Gray / Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Published: November 28, 2007

SARASOTA COUNTY - A teenager was critically injured Tuesday when his pickup slammed into a 7-Eleven sign near Lockwood Ridge and DeSoto roads

The crash happened shortly after 11 a.m.

Hunter Gilpin, 16, sped off after sheriff's deputies tried to stop his vehicle on Monica Parkway, near Lockwood Ridge Road and 12th Street.

Authorities said they had received several 911 calls from people in Kensington Park about the driver spinning a truck in circles, leaving skid marks.

"He was doing this underneath power lines," sheriff's spokesman Chuck Lesaltato said. "Traffic units saw the vehicle, and he drove off. He was driving recklessly."

Authorities followed the Ford F-150 north for about two miles before calling off the chase near Gocio Road. Lesaltato said the deputies reached speeds of about 50 mph.

"They had his tag number, and he was driving so recklessly that they called it off," Lesaltato said.

Gilpin, whose brother, Austin Gilpin, 18, was hit and killed by a car Sept. 5 in Orlando, crashed a few blocks away.

Witnesses said he swerved to miss a car, lost control of the truck, hit a curb and slammed into the sign.

The sign split the front end of the pickup and pushed the engine and driver into the back of the truck's cab.

"I heard a loud screech, and I looked up and saw a truck going at a high rate of speed toward the sign," said Kyes Saifullah, 27. "I ran up to see what happened, and the guy wasn't moving, but after a couple of minutes he started moving."

It took authorities about 45 minutes to remove Gilpin from the truck.

He was flown to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg with life-threatening injuries.

The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating the crash, and charges are pending.

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