Teens begin crime spree with carjacking, end it with robberies, crashes, cops say

Four teenagers went on a crime spree this weekend that began in Miami with an armed carjacking and ended in Hollywood with two armed robberies, an attempted armed robbery, a chase and several crashes, police said.

The four 16-year-olds — whom the Herald is not identifying because of their age and the nature of the crimes — now face charges including grand theft auto and robbery with a firearm.

Hollywood police say the spree began late Friday night when the teens carjacked a 2009 white Volkswagen in Miami-Dade County.

The group then made their way to Hollywood and committed two armed robberies and tried to rob a third victim within minutes of each other, police said.

The first report came in at about 11:30 p.m. Friday in the area of 2000 North 58th Ave. After officers arrived to investigate, a second armed robbery was reported at 3901 N 51st Ave. Moments later, a report of an attempted armed robbery at North Hills Drive and North 46th Avenue came in.

Officers spotted the Volkswagen on State Road 7 and Thomas Street and tried to pull it over. The driver didn’t stop, police said, and began speeding through red lights.

The car headed east on Hollywood Boulevard and at Interstate 95 crashed into several cars stopped at a red light, police said.

One of the teens slipped out of the rear passenger-side door and dropped a handgun on the ground in the process, according to police. The teen took off running but was found hiding behind a pillar underneath I-95.

Meanwhile, the driver of the car took off again and continued east on Hollywood Boulevard. At North 20th Avenue, the driver ran a red light and caused “multiple collisions with police patrol cars,” police said. The remaining three teens were arrested.

This story was originally published September 17, 2017 at 10:08 PM with the headline "Teens begin crime spree with carjacking, end it with robberies, crashes, cops say."