TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Teens Held In Spree With Stolen Car, Chase

ADVERTISEMENT

By LISA A. DAVIS

ldavis@tampatrib.com

Published: October 9, 2008

HOLIDAY - The combination of high gas prices and teens with empty pockets and wanderlust proved to be dangerous.

Sheriff's officials say the teens involved are lucky nobody ended up seriously hurt during a crime spree that started Tuesday afternoon with a car theft, continued with beating and robbing a 43-year-old man, and ended in a pursuit in the wee hours Wednesday.

It concluded with three teens behind bars early Wednesday, including a 14-year-old girl and a 13-year-old boy, and two suspects still on the run.

Pasco deputies say sometime between 1 and 2 p.m. the group stole a beige Toyota Camry from a driveway at 4233 Kibler Lane while the owner was inside the home.

About 12 hours later, a deputy spotted the vehicle with teens inside near a 7-Eleven at Moog Road and U.S. 19, according to a report. A 14-year-old boy was left behind at the gas station and fled. Moments later, the other teens led deputies on a chase east on Moog Road after swerving toward a cruiser.

Deputies placed stop sticks at Moog Road and Madison Avenue, deflating the Toyota's front right tire. The teens kept going to the end of Moog Road and then struck a fence and railroad ties that were buried in the ground. The driver backed up and rammed a marked sheriff's office cruiser but didn't hurt the deputy and then three teens were arrested. An 18-year-old man bailed out of the Toyota and ran.

Deputies said the driver, Dylan Michael Moore,16, of 2520 Fentress Place, was arrested on charges of grand theft auto, robbery, aggravated battery, feeling to elude law enforcement and driving without a valid license. The two younger teens - whose names are being withheld because of their ages - face charges of robbery, aggravated battery and grand theft auto. All were taken to the Juvenile Detention Center in Land O' Lakes.

Moore already had 11 pending felonies at the time of his arrest, sheriff's office spokesman Doug Tobin said.

Deputies couldn't locate the 18-year-old even with the help of police dogs and a helicopter. The other 14-year-old also was not found as of Wednesday evening.

"Really having these kids on the street is a danger to society," Tobin said of the group.

Between the car theft and the chase, sheriff's officials say the teens sought a person to "jump" to get gas money so they could head to Clearwater.

Brian Posser was that unlucky man whom the teens happened to spy riding his bike on Zodiac Avenue, reports state.

They passed him once, opening a car door and knocking him off his bike, according to reports; then after cruising around the block, they hit him again with a car door, again causing him to fall to the ground and cutting and bruising his head and face, which required stitches. The teens took Posser's wallet and cell phone and then continued beating him while demanding his credit and debit card identification numbers.

Moore, accused of driving the car, told deputies that earlier in the day one of the teens picked him up in the stolen car and they gathered the rest of the group.

At first they wanted to drive to Clearwater, but since they didn't have gas money they decided to "cruise" around Holiday.

At some point, they went back to the Clearwater plan and started siphoning gas from vehicles along Darlington Road, according to a report.

They didn't think they got enough gas, and they decided to rob Posser.

When they realized Posser didn't have any cash, Moore said, they decided to rob another person.

They were out looking for another victim when they spotted the sheriff's office helicopter, a report states, and decided to pull into the 7-Eleven to buy gas with one of Posser's stolen credit cards.

Reporter Lisa A. Davis can be reached at (727) 815-1083.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT