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St. Pete teens in custody after high-speed chase, dramatic crash in Oviedo, police say

By WFTV Web Staff
By WFTV Web Staff
A man was arrested and three juveniles were taken into custody Tuesday after a high-speed chase that ended with a dramatic crash that sent a getaway vehicle onto two wheels at an Oviedo intersection, police said.
Daquez Warren, 18, faces four charges in relation to the crash, including fleeing police and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to the arrest report.
According to officials with the Oviedo Police Department, officers were staking out the Oviedo Mall in an effort to stop vehicle break-ins during the busy holiday season.
Tactical officers believed a shoplifting was about to take place and started to move in on a suspicious vehicle backed into a parking spot, investigators said.
Warren and three girls came running out of the Dillard’s, jumped into the car, rammed an unmarked police cruiser and sped off, police said.
Officers reported clocking the car going 80 mph on Aloma Avenue.
When the car reached the intersection of Aloma Avenue and Dean Road, the driver tried the smash through several vehicles, sending the getaway car onto two wheels, witness Javier Tapining said.
“They hit both vehicles, kind of flipped in the air (and) landed in the middle of the street,” he said. “That’s when the cop slammed on the brakes over there, comes out of his vehicle (and) starts beating on the windows with his gun drawn.”
Officers ordered the car’s occupants to exit the vehicle and took them into custody, Tapining said.
Officers said the four appeared to have been spooked by a security guard and did not steal anything from the Dillard’s.
Warren and the three juveniles in the car with him are from St. Petersburg -- which has been struggling with a high number of juvenile crimes for years, according to ABC Action News. 
Warren asked the three juveniles in his car to ride with him from St. Petersburg over to Oviedo “with the sole purpose of committing a theft at Dillard’s," the arrest report says.
Two of the juveniles have been arrested for shoplifting within the past two months, according to the St. Pete police department. One was arrested two days before the crash, police said.
According to ABC Action News, multiple community groups and law enforcement agencies have teamed up to create task forces to try to get a handle on the problem.

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