COLUMBIA COUNTY, Fla. – Three people from Michigan were arrested Friday afternoon following a multi-county car chase involving multiple law enforcement agencies that reached more than 160 mph, according to a release from the Florida Highway Patrol.
At about 6:23 a.m., troopers in Jacksonville were alerted to two stolen cars — a 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee and 2022 Dodge Durango — driving north on Interstate 75 in Sumter County, the release shows.
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FHP said that approximately 45 minutes later, an officer spotted the Jeep and tried to pull it over for a traffic stop near the 450-mile marker in Hamilton County.
However, the Jeep failed to comply, and it sped away with a green 2022 Dodge Hellcat close behind, troopers said.
Both cars fled north to Lowndes County in Georgia, where the Jeep driver and two other passengers abandoned the Jeep and got into the Hellcat to continue north, the release says.
Troopers said deputies soon after tried to pull the Hellcat over, but the driver refused to stop, instead turning around at Exit 22 and heading back south.
Once back in Florida, FHP attempted yet another traffic stop of the Hellcat, which was driving at more than 160 mph, troopers said.
According to FHP, troopers set up a spike stripe that the Hellcat struck near mile marker 439, rendering it’s left front tire flat, though the driver continued to flee in the stolen car.
After approaching the State Road 247 overpass in Columbia County, the driver and two passengers fled the vehicle on foot into a wooded area east of the interstate, troopers said.
FHP, Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, Lake City Police Department, Florida Dept. of Corrections K-9s, Florida Wildlife and Conservation Commission officers, Florida Dept. of Agriculture and Lowndes County deputies — seven agencies in total — then set up a perimeter near Quail Heights Country Club to catch the three suspects.
Troopers said that the three suspects — Steven Grimes, 20; Earnest King, 20; and a 16-year-old boy — were all eventually arrested by 1:20 p.m. Grimes, King and the teen all came from Michigan, the release shows.
The three were taken to the Columbia County Jail, troopers said.
Grimes and King face charges of grand theft, dealing in stolen property and resisting an officer without violence. King faces an additional charge of possessing burglary tools with intent to use.
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