- October 30, 2024
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By: Shannon Martin
Public Affairs Officer, Flagler County Sheriff's Office
At 2:20 a.m. on Jan. 11, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office located a stolen vehicle in the area of Palm Harbor Parkway and Palm Coast Parkway. Deputies observed the vehicle turn into the Harborside Apartments parking lot at 100 Palm Harbor Parkway. As deputies approached the vehicle, it immediately backed out of the parking space and sped off.
The vehicle continued at a high rate of speed on Palm Harbor Parkway before turning onto Clubfield Drive, then Coral Reef Court, and then Crystal Bay Court. Deputies lost sight of the vehicle but soon located it again at the end of Crescent Court South parked in the cul-de-sac with all four doors open.
The vehicle was confirmed stolen by the Rockledge Police Department and a perimeter was established. Verbal announcements were made by FCSO instructing the suspects to turn themselves in. None of the subjects complied. A short time later, dispatch received a call from a resident on Coral Reef Court North stating that a male with a red hoodie had just run across his yard and was possibly hiding underneath his pick-up truck. Deputies arrived at the residence and did not locate the male but were shown Ring Video footage that shows the suspect wearing a red hooded sweatshirt running across the front yard and ducking down near a pick-up truck.
Simultaneously, deputies intercepted a black Chevrolet traveling on Crystal Bay Court. Inside of the vehicle, deputies observed occupants matching the descriptions of the suspects who fled from the stolen vehicle. They were later identified as a 16-year-old and two 14-year-olds.
After viewing the Ring Video footage, deputies were able to positively identify the 16-year-old as the individual in the video and all occupants inside the black Chevrolet were detained.
When questioned by deputies, the driver stated that at 1:50 a.m she was contacted by the 16-year-old requesting that she come outside. Once outside, she observed the three teens.
The 16-year-old told her that two of his friends, one of them 20-year-old Jah Mari Wiltavious Dayve Parker, were missing and requested her help locating them. She and the 16-year-old searched on foot for his missing friends for a short amount of time before getting inside her vehicle to continue the search.
It was at this time that the driver stated the 16-year-old told her that the police “were looking for people with a stolen vehicle” and they needed to hurry. The driver stated that the 16-year-old received a “shared location” message on his iPhone from Parker and they were on their way to pick him up when they were stopped by the FCSO.
The driver consented to a search of her vehicle and FCSO seized the 16-year-old's cell phone for evidentiary purposes. Upon taking the cell phone off the car charger, deputies observed the phone had a marked GPS location with directions where Parker and another juvenile were eventually located.
Parker and the juvenile were located by FCSO deputies hiding on a boat located at Crystal Bay Court. Parker and the juvenile had opened the closed zipper door and made entry into the vessel, attempting to hide from deputies by laying down. Both suspects were secured. The boat owner wished to pursue charges for burglary.
“These guys thought they could steal a car and get away with it but what they now know is that crime stops in Flagler County,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “I want to thank the resident who saw something suspicious and reported it which allowed our deputies to quickly locate the suspect. These guys thought they could steal a car in another part of the state and come to Flagler County and then run from us. But they learned that when you run from the FCSO you just go to jail tired. This was a great combined effort using guardianship policing, technology, good police work and partnering with our residents. That sad part of all this good work is the broken juvenile justice system, which released them back to their parents.”
The suspects were arrested and taken to the Flagler County Jail and charged with grand theft of a motor vehicle, among other charges. The Department of Juvenile Justice advised to release three of the juveniles to their parents. It was also discovered the 16-year-old had an active felony warrant for motor vehicle theft. He was transported to DJJ without incident.
Further charges may be pending as the investigation continues.
