ST. LUCIE COUNTY – Two teenagers and two juveniles who allegedly stole a car in Brevard County were arrested on Oct. 24 in St. Lucie County by St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office deputies.
According to sheriff’s office reports, the Patrol Operations Bureau saw a reported stolen car turn onto Ideal Holding Road, west of I-95 and south of Okeechobee Road at about 10:20 a.m., Oct. 24.
As the deputy approached the road’s dead end and attempted a traffic stop, the driver abruptly left the roadway, crashing into the canal bank brush, according to sheriff’s office reports.
Four occupants left the car and fled the scene on foot. Deputies subsequently recovered a replica Sig P365 handgun/airsoft pistol, multiple ski masks, and two gaming systems from inside the stolen vehicle.
The first subject, a juvenile, was taken into custody at the scene of the crashed vehicle, according to sheriff’s office reports. A K9 officer and his partner tracked and apprehended the second juvenile about 200 yards away from the location.
The two remaining adult suspects attempted to evade capture by swimming across the C-24 canal, entering a nearby citrus grove. A Fort Pierce Police Department K9 officer and his partner arrived and began tracking the suspects within the grove.
Following a track of several hundred yards, the K9 located and apprehended Gavin Guthrie, 19, of Melbourne, resulting in a K9 bite. Shortly thereafter, the final adult suspect, John Mullins, 18, also of Melbourne, was taken into custody.
Mullins and Guthrie were each charged with grand theft of a motor vehicle; contributing to the delinquency of a minor; trespassing; resisting arrest without violence. Guthrie also faces charges of reckless driving and fleeing & eluding law enforcement.
The two juveniles, who were later confirmed to be reported missing from Charlotte County, were charged with resisting arrest without violence, according to sheriff’s office reports. Both juveniles were taken to the Department of Juvenile Justice.