Posted on 10/08/2022 9:24:06 AM PDT by TigerClaws
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri released video filmed by a sheriff’s department helicopter early on Sunday morning that showed three teenagers stealing a Maserati, fleeing police, and then flipping the sports car at 123 mph (video below).
Sheriff Gualtieri said the incident began as sheriff’s deputies were responding to another burglary call in a residential neighborhood on Oct. 3, WFLA reported.
As the sheriff’s helicopter flew overhead, the pilot spotted three teenagers behaving suspiciously on the sidewalk below and pointed them out to the dispatcher over the radio.
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The video showed that as the pilot asked for deputies to investigate what the teens were up to, the suspects got into a Maserati parked by the sidewalk.
The sheriff said one of the boys covered his hand with his shirt as he opened the car door so he wouldn’t get his fingerprints on the soon-to-be-stolen vehicle, WFLA reported.
A moment later, the stolen Maserati pulled onto the sidewalk, drove across the grass, and then pulled onto the roadway with its headlights off and drove east on 62nd Avenue North, the video showed.
Sheriff Gualtieri said the aerial unit followed the stolen Maserati until patrol vehicles caught up with it, WFLA reported.
The sheriff said that when the 15-year-old driver saw police cruisers approaching him, he slammed on the gas and accelerated to 123 mph.
“As [the driver] punches it, the deputies immediately turn off their overheads, the sergeant got on the radio and told them to disengage, which they did immediately,” he explained.
The video from the helicopter showed that both police vehicles gave up the chase, dropped back, and were out of the camera’s view when the teen driver lost control of the Maserati a few seconds later.
“At five seconds before the crash, that Maserati was going 123 mph,” Sheriff Gualtieri told reporters.
The video showed the Maserati left the roadway and flipped multiple times before eventually coming to rest upside down.
The front seat passenger died at the scene of the wreck, WFLA reported.
He was later identified as 15-year-old Mario Bonilla.
A 16-year-old passenger in the back seat suffered life-threatening injuries but was expected to survive, WFLA reported.
Sheriff Gualtieri said the 15-year-old driver – later identified as 15-year-old Keondrick Lang – suffered critical but non-life-threatening injuries in the crash that killed his passenger.
Police said Lang is facing murder charges for Bonilla’s death.
The sheriff said that when deputies pulled the driver from the wrecked Maserati, they found a .25 caliber semiautomatic handgun on the front seat of the car, WFLA reported.
The gun did not belong to the owner of the stolen sports car, according to the sheriff.
I don’t think the police would be liable as it’s legal for them to set up and use ‘bait cars’ but... those cars have kill switches in them to disable the vehicle safely. So maybe they would be liable IF the ‘right jury’ (defund the police types) made up a jury.
Likely it’s just someone dumb enough to leave keys in the car. I have a buddy that does this. Had the cars (100k value) stolen once already. Moron.
> Again, why did a driver leave a Maserati open and with the keys in it. <
People do stupid things. Maybe the owner wanted to pop into a store for just a minute and didn’t want to fumble with his keys.
> Or was it a ‘bait car’? <
Not likely. A properly equipped bait car would have remote-activated kill switch. So a thief wouldn’t get far. Maybe a block or two at most.
Dumbasses, if it was a stick shift they’d still be alive and un-injured.
Florida
“People do stupid things. Maybe the owner wanted to pop into a store for just a minute and didn’t want to fumble with his keys.”
At 4AM?
Was this a “bait car”?
Probably not, but if it was, they were not prepared to execute the arrest. From what I can see, they had only two units attached to the car and/or the area and it is obvious they were not prepared to do a high speed chase as they were told to back off and killed their lights during the process when the perp sped up to escape.
They had not set up any containment and were trying to bluff the perp into stopping which is a gamble at best. We couldn’t see the surrounding area as chopper surveillance was blacked out, so it could have been residential and a poor place to set up a sting. Badly planned and handled.
wy69
Cops were on their way to another call when the pilot noticed the teens acting suspicious
...I flipped it over.
Now I don’t drive.
Owner/driver probably wasn’t careful with multi-featured fob. Maserati fobs are worse than most. Might have been close enough so that the start button in the car would work.
Also sure could have been insurance scam.
Police copter was at an unrelated crime scene nearby.
The owner of the car will get a nice insurance payout and if he had the insurance that allows it he might get back the full price and taxes he paid out on the unreliable Maserati. Go get something new.
If you’ve ever had a car stolen, you’d prefer it be totaled.
The chase cars backed off when the perp rapidly accelerated. Obviously, too much car for the driver.
Lucky anyone walked away from that.
😎👍
The Helicopter was in the air for another incident. Keondrick Lang shouldn’t be out and about with his thugs at night. The Maserati was totaled, the frame was bent.
Doing 123 MPH in a Maserati tells me he either ran out of road or was in the city.
Sheesh, I have far lesser cars that can, and perhaps have, done well past 123 MPH.
We're living a life of illusion.
He was living Life in the Fast Lane.
shame kids had to die over something so stupid.
“Sheesh, I have far lesser cars that can, and perhaps have, done well past 123 MPH.”
With headlights off?
‘He was living Life in the Fast Lane.”
He stayed in the slow lane.
He might, but his claim is going to get a close look by the carrier. Leaving a vehicle, especially a higher priced vehicle unsecured with the keys in it is a huge red flag for an owner give up. The insurance company is going to want to look at his finances and his payment history to see if he was behind, or about to fall behind on his payments.
If somebody is facing an imminent repo they decide it would be better have the vehicle stolen and file a theft claim than to have the loan default on their credit history.
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