A teen who drove a stolen Maserati early Sunday morning reached a top speed of 123 mph before the sports car crashed and killed one of his passengers, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office reported.
The vehicle's top speed before the deadly crash was just one piece of new information the agency released on Tuesday, October 4. The sheriff's office also released helicopter and dash-camera footage of the incident, according to the New York Post.
A Pinellas Sheriff's helicopter pilot alerted deputies on the ground at about 3:20 a.m. on Sunday that three teenagers walking along 62nd Avenue North had managed to get into an unlocked 2016 silver Maserati near the intersection of 25th Street North. Sheriff's officials said that deputies drove behind and alongside the teens who stole the car before turning on their emergency lights.
Teen dies at the scene following Maserati crash
The teens hit the gas shortly after, and a sergeant told the deputies not to pursue the car. Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said that the kids reached speeds of 123 mph before the Maserati went airborne. The luxury car then crashed into a sign near 10th Street North and 62nd Avenue.
The damage to the car was severe, with one of the passengers, a 15-year-old boy, dying at the scene. Gualtieri said that the other passenger, a 16-year-old boy, was seriously injured but has now been stabilized. The 15-year-old boy, who was driving the stolen Maserati, remained in critical condition on Tuesday, according to WFLA.
The sheriff also said that deputies found a .25-caliber, semi-automatic handgun in the Maserati, which did not belong to the car's owner. The sheriff told reporters that the two surviving teens could face criminal charges following the crash, including grand theft auto. Gualtieri said that the driver could also face a third-degree felony murder charge.
Juvenile auto thefts are a major issue in Tampa
According to Gualtieri, one of the teens had recently transferred high schools to help keep him out of trouble. The teens' parents believed that their children were in bed on the night of the crash. Gualtieri said that these parents were trying to do the right thing.
Juvenile auto thefts have long been a major problem in the Tampa Bay area. The Tampa Bay Times tracked over 500 auto thefts back in 2017. They found that many of the stolen cars had been left unlocked and that teenagers often only faced minor penalties when caught because of how these crimes were classified.
Gualtieri said that although auto thefts remain a problem, they have decreased. Creating a burglary prevention program and changing how long juveniles can be detained have helped address this issue. Gualtieri noted that the changes in the law and in how they police help efforts to kind of curtail this problem.
