JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A 17-year-old faces several charges after police say he led them on a chase.
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Action News Jax was told that the suspect’s car caught fire and rolled into a police cruiser that caught fire. We brought you the aftermath on I-95 near Church Street as breaking news on Wednesday.
The incident all started as a stolen car investigation, and police said that before they attempted the traffic stop, the suspect was driving on the sidewalk and hit a woman sitting in her car at an intersection.
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Action News Jax’s Ben Ryan spoke to that woman, who said she was shaking but thankful it wasn’t any worse.
Police said it started after a teenager was spotted driving a stolen car taken from an apartment complex on Cleveland Road. Investigators saw the 17-year-old driving recklessly and said he then hit Krystle Richardson’s car at a traffic stop, pushing her into the middle of an intersection.
“It’s a good thing there were no cars coming at the moment,” she said. “The impact made me jerk really bad. Like, I said I was in pain, but as far as the damage, my taillight and the bottom part of the trunk are cracked up.
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Officers started the pursuit as the teen went onto I-95 South at Golfair Boulevard. A police report said he was going more than 60 miles per hour and was “swerving in and out of traffic almost striking multiple vehicles.”
The car broke down on the highway, began to smoke and caught on fire. It then hit a JSO cruiser, setting that police car on fire.
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Richardson said she’s glad it wasn’t any worse.
“I feel like I’m very lucky and very blessed. That could have been my car that caught on fire,” she said. “It’s no telling what could’ve happened after the fact of that. I’m just upset I had to be one of the ones involved even if it seems minor to others. I just don’t like the fact that I was involved in the first place, but it could have been worse.
Police said the 17-year-old was found with a semi-automatic handgun. Another person was in the car, but it’s unclear if that person is facing charges.
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