Cop chase over stolen car leads to school lockdowns, roads closed in Coconut Grove: police
A Coral Gables police chase about a stolen car Friday morning led to roads being shut down off U.S. 1 and a lockdown at three Coconut Grove schools with parents unable to drop off their kids and some parents stuck inside, according to police and parents who contacted the Miami Herald.
The incident began with an early-morning report of a stolen Cadillac Escalade from a home on Mall Street in the Gables, near Granada Boulevard, on the east side of U.S. 1, Coral Gables police said. That led to a police chase that closed several Grove streets, including Shipping Avenue and New York Street, Miami police said.
Police pursued a man, 18-year-old Larry Youte, and an unidentified juvenile to the Grove, where the SUV hit a curb and became undrivable, said Sgt. Michelle Christensen, spokesperson for the Coral Gables Police Department.
The pair jumped out of the SUV and ran away but were found hiding in bushes. One was treated for minor injuries, likely from rose-bush thorns, Christensen said. The two were unarmed, she added.
Sometime after the chase, police discovered there was a third man who was involved in the incident and was in a white BMW. He hasn’t been apprehended, and authorities have not said if the BMW was stolen or who owns it. The BMW and Escalade were both recovered.
The chase led to lockdowns at three Grove schools and confusion in the morning drop-off period. There were lockdowns at George Washington Carver elementary and middle schools off Grand Avenue and Frances S. Tucker K-8 Center on Douglas Road.
A representative from George Washington Carver Middle School said it was on lockdown due to police in the area.
“We are all safe, all the kids in school are OK, but we have to wait for them to catch the people in the area,” said the representative, who did not want to be named because she is not an official spokesperson.
She also said she heard from parents who said there were helicopters by the shops at Merrick Park in Coral Gables.
The school lockdowns began around 8:30 a.m and were lifted around 10:30 a.m.
This story was originally published August 22, 2025 at 10:52 AM.