Teen's 1-Night Crime Spree Ended With Crash, Arrest

RIVERVIEW, FL — A 13-year-old Riverview boy is in hot water after Hillsborough County Sheriff’s deputies say he went on an extensive burglary spree that began Monday night and ended with a vehicle crash and his eventual arrest.

According to the agency, the spree began around 11 p.m. Monday at Dimple’s Playland Childcare, 7445 12th Ave. S., in Tampa. The boy is accused of gaining access to the business through an unlocked window and then helping himself to several sets of vehicle keys. The teen, deputies say, then used those keys to swipe a white Ford E350 van from the property.

A short time later, the Tampa Police Department attempted a traffic stop on the vehicle, but the teen is accused of fleeing officers and then later showing up at Cell Tech, 7802 Rideout Road, in Tampa, to commit another business burglary.

That burglary attempt, an email from the sheriff’s office said, fell flat when the business owners interrupted the teen. The boy ran from the business on foot, leaving the stolen van behind.

Undaunted, deputies say the teen went back to Dimple’s Playland and drove off in a second Ford E350. Deputies spotted the second stolen van and attempted a traffic stop, but the teen is accused of fleeing yet again.

A short while later, Florida Highway Patrol units happened to come across the teen and the van, the sheriff’s office email said. They, too, tried to stop the teen, but he kept right on going.

The getaway, however, wasn’t entirely clean. The sheriff’s office says the boy lost control of the van and crashed it at 78th Street South and Madison Avenue.

The teen bailed out of the van and is then accused of stealing a bicycle from a nearby home in yet another attempt to get away from law enforcement.

Deputies, however, caught up to the boy in a wooded area and brought him into custody.

The teen, who is not being identified by Patch because of his age, now faces burglary of an unoccupied dwelling, petty theft, resisting an officer without violence, burglary of an unoccupied structure and grand theft auto charges.

Deputies say the boy admitted to the crimes after his arrest.

Image via Shutterstock

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