Teens Killed In Stolen SUV Identified

PALM HARBOR, FL — Three teenage boys were killed and a fourth was injured when the stolen SUV they were in crashed on Tampa Road near U.S. 19 early Sunday morning, ending what Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri described as a deadly “game.” The teens were in a Ford Explorer that had been swiped from a Clearwater car dealership late last week, authorities say.

The teens who were killed have been identified as Keontae Brown, 16, Jimmie Goshey, 14, and Dejare Thomas, 16. Another 14-year-old boy was injured in the crash.

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Deputies say the Explorer that crashed around 4:30 a.m. Aug. 6 was stolen on Thursday when a Clearwater car dealership was broken into and keys were swiped from the office. A Chrysler Sebring was also stolen that evening, the sheriff’s office said.

Deputies happened to spot both vehicles early Sunday morning in the area of State Road 580 and Belcher Road. They tried to stop the drivers, Gaultieri said, but did not pursue them when they failed to comply.

Another deputy spotted the teens a short time later in the East Lake Woodlands area of Oldsmar. A perimeter was set up, but deputies were unable to locate the vehicles.

The vehicles were sighted again around 4:30 a.m. Aug. 6. Both were headed westbound on Tampa Road, playing what Gaultieri described as a game of “cat and mouse.” One vehicle would slow down while the other sped up. Their speeds, the sheriff’s said, reached more than 100 mph.

Deputies, Gaultieri said, did not pursue the teens.

The “game” came to its deadly end, Gaultieri said, when the Explorer is believed to have run the red light at U.S. 19. It hit a 1999 Toyota Camry driven by Ricky Melendez, 29, went airborne and then struck several objects along the roadway before bursting into flames.

Three teens inside the black Explorer died at the scene. The fourth was hospitalized, Gaultieri said. Melendez suffered minor injuries, the sheriff's office said.

The teens in the Sebring were later captured, Gaultieri said. They have been identified as Kamal Campbell, 18, and a 16-year-old boy.

Gaultieri said the teens involved in the incident have "extensive" criminal histories. Investigators believe the teens were breaking into homes and/or automobiles prior to being spotted by law enforcement, the sheriff added. Authorities are asking victims of home or vehicle break-ins that occurred on Sunday morning in the north Clearwater, East Lake, Safety Harbor and Palm Harbor areas to contact them. Anyone with information is asked to call the agency at 727-582-6200.

The deadly crash comes only days after a multi-county car theft incident began in St. Petersburg and ended in Spring Hill. Three teenage boys were arrested in that case, which reportedly involved dozens of auto burglaries. It also follows on the heels of a similar incident that left three teenage girls dead in St. Petersburg when the stolen vehicle they were in crashed into a pond at a cemetery.

Photo courtesy of the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office