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Police Chase Yields 5 Arrests

Tribunr photo by GREG FIGHT

A K-9 deputy arrests the last of five suspects who fled a traffic stop in Lakeland, leading police on a high speed chase into Hillsborough County. The suspect was seen by residents as he ran from back yard to back yard along Black Dairy Rd. and they alerted neaby police who had been searching the area.

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By JOSH POLTILOVE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 17, 2008

SEFFNER - Camping World warehouse employee Jason Morgan didn't know that the man he was chasing had led deputies on a high-speed pursuit from Polk County. He didn't know whether the man was dangerous or why he was wanted.

When the man ran near him just outside the warehouse, however, Morgan reacted.

He sprinted after the person for about 250 feet, grabbed him before he could climb a fence and held him down until sheriff's deputies arrived.

"After I started thinking about it, it was pretty stupid," Morgan said. "I don't know if this guy has a gun. I have two kids at home, and I was putting myself at risk."

Morgan caught one of five Tampa residents who authorities say led deputies on a high-speed pursuit that began after a burglary in Lakeland and ended in Seffner. Deputies saw a stolen truck suspected of being used in the burglary and gave chase for about 20 miles.

Deputies are investigating whether the five were involved in at least five residential burglaries in the Lakeland area, Polk County sheriff's spokeswoman Donna Wood said.

She said that Wednesday morning, they jumped out of a stolen 2003 Ford F-250 pickup and fled through a parking lot at Camping World, 6102 Lazy Days Blvd. in Seffner.

Four people were caught shortly after getting out of the truck. The fifth was captured about 2 p.m. at a house at Black Dairy Road and East Sligh Avenue, authorities said.

The incident began about 10:45 a.m. after deputies responded to a burglary on Hunters Run Boulevard in Lakeland. A neighbor saw two people taking a television and provided a description of them and the vehicle they rode in, a Polk sheriff's office news release states. A detective followed the vehicle to Old Polk City Road in Lakeland and tried to stop it. The vehicle turned and tried to ram the detective's vehicle, Wood said.

Deputies began pursuit on Interstate 4, using a helicopter to maintain visual contact.

The truck was going about 90 mph, according to deputies heard over a police scanner during the chase. It sideswiped a tractor-trailer, but neither vehicle crashed, the release states. It says the tractor-trailer had minor damage but the driver was not injured.

The stolen vehicle's driver tried to leave the interstate near Exit 10 and crashed. A television and other electronic equipment were in the vehicle's back seat.

The occupants bailed out of the truck near Camping World.

"They stormed through the parking lot and out the back," said Efrain Forte, manager of Camping World, a recreational vehicle and camping equipment center. He was speaking right after the foot chase began near his workplace. "It's crazy. It's crazy. We've got dogs. We've got helicopters out here."

The five people being booked into Falkenburg Road Jail were Donald C. Steadman Jr., 19; Deontray D. Clark, 19; Patrick O. Rivers, 15; Termaine A. Newton, 16; and Quinton T. Thompson, 18.

All were charged with grand theft auto, burglary and grand theft, aggravated fleeing to elude, and resisting arrest without violence, the sheriff's office release says.

Carlos Hernandez of Riverview said his 2003 Ford F-250 was stolen about 8 a.m. Wednesday in Tampa.

The truck was reported stolen to Tampa police, Tampa police Cpl. Jared Douds said. Its license tag is the same as the Ford's involved in the crash.

"He said that the cops act real quick and he's really proud of them," Hernandez's supervisor, Manuel Oswald Ayala, said after learning of the chase.

Hillsborough County deputies, Lakeland police, the Florida Highway Patrol, the state Department of Transportation and the state's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission were involved in the case.

Researcher Melanie Coon, photographer Greg Fight, reporter Billy Townsend and News Channel 8 photojournalist Paul Lamison contributed to this report. Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at jpoltilove@tampatrib .com or (813) 259-7691.

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