A horrifying car crash , resulting from a police chase gone awry, claimed the lives of four teenagers who were traveling at a shocking speed of 111mph.
The victims , aged between 14 and 16, were students at Newberry High School in Bradford County, Gainesville, Florida.
Two of the teens tragically lost their lives at the scene in the Waldo area, while the remaining two succumbed to their injuries days later at UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville.
Among the deceased were Jabril Cheevers and Lawrence McClendon Jr. , a sophomore and defensive back for the Newberry High School football team. A GoFundMe page has been set up by Lawrence's family to help with funeral expenses.
READ MORE: Teacher, 26, arrested after 'sending boy, 15, nude photos at church'
The SUV, which was carrying the four teens, had reportedly been stolen from Gainesville just hours before the fatal incident. The vehicle was quickly identified by a license plate reader, prompting a police pursuit.
As backup was called, a Bradford County sheriff's deputy confirmed that the pursued vehicle was indeed the stolen SUV.
Despite several attempts by deputies to get the SUV to pull over, the driver seemed to slow down only to suddenly accelerate, reaching terrifying speeds of up to 111mph.
Police were outpaced by a speeding SUV as their vehicle's technology prevented rapid acceleration. The pursuit escalated when the Florida Highway Patrol took over, with a trooper executing a Precision Immobilization Technique (PIT) maneuver to halt the SUV.
However, the tactic went awry, causing the SUV to flip and crash into a concrete pole.
The Florida Highway Patrol explained the incident, stating: "The Trooper made intentional contact with the Honda, causing it to decelerate. The Trooper used the break in speed to perform a Precision Immobilization Technique (PIT maneuver) on the fleeing Honda to stop the threat created by the fleeing suspect. The Honda subsequently rolled over before making contact with a cement pole."
Extracting the four teenagers from the mangled vehicle took an arduous hour and a half, WCJB reported.
Brad Smith of the Bradford County Sheriff's Office gave the police's side of the story: "We confirmed with the Gainesville Police Department that they still had that car entered as stolen, and the officer waited until he had three backup units with him before he initiated the traffic stop."
In an intense car chase in Florida, Mr Smith reported that "They did start to pull over on the shoulder of the road, but before they came to a complete stop, they accelerated again, and that is when the chase was on. The [Florida] Highway Patrol was, at that point, the only vehicle that could actually keep up with them."
He added: "Our vehicles cannot match the speed that they were going, but we did continue one of our units to try and stay as close as they could as a backup unit to FHP until Alachua County's units were able to catch up to them."
Two of the deceased teenagers in the SUV wore ankle monitors and had active warrants. Some even donned ski masks, according to WLBT reports.
Conveying his sympathies, James Sheppard, principal of Newberry High School, broke the news to parents: "It is with great sadness that I share the two Newberry High School students who were in the serious car accident this past weekend have now passed away from their injuries. Thank you for keeping both of these families in your thoughts during this difficult time."
Ed Johnson, the head football coach of the school, remembered Lawrence McClendon by saying: "Lawrence was a great kid to be around and have in our program. As a football player he was competitive, talented and relentless with a knack for making big plays. He will be truly missed by everyone in the Panther football family."
Most Popular
Comments / 0