PALM BAY, Florida — Two suspects are in custody following a mid-day burglary that set off a sequence of events which left one motorcyclist injured.
Just before 1 p.m. today, Palm Bay Police dispatchers received a 9-1-1 call from a resident in the 3200 block of Haddon Avenue SE in Palm Bay, Florida. The caller reported seeing three black males stealing a motorcycle from the garage of a neighbor’s home. The suspects then allegedly fled the area in a red Dodge Intrepid and on the stolen motorcycle.
After seeing multiple police units in the area, police say one of the suspects ditched the motorcycle in the area of Rhapsody Street and – at some point – reconnected with the other suspects in the Dodge Intrepid. Police bulletins were then issued with the vehicle and suspect information.
Palm Bay Police Officer Greg Moore, who was in an unmarked unit, spotted the Intrepid in the area of Port Malabar Boulevard and U.S. 1. Police say that the Intrepid was being recklessly driven at a high rate of speed when it cut off a motorcyclist in the area of RJ Conlan and Northview Street. The motorcyclist lost control of his bike and suffered serious, but non-life-threatening injuries. Officer Moore stopped to render aid to the victim while the suspects left the area.
Melbourne Police were on alert when they spotted the Intrepid in their jurisdiction. Melbourne officers initiated a pursuit after seeing the Intrepid crash into several mailboxes in the area of Monroe Street. As the suspects continued to flee police, the Intrepid then crashed into a house on Saxon Street in Melbourne where all four suspects fled on foot. Two of the four suspects were captured by police.
The two suspects that were apprehended by police are 17 and 15-years-old. Palm Bay Police will charged the two with burglary, grand theft, resisting, hit-and-run with serious injury – plus other charges from Melbourne Police.
Police added that a subsequent search of the vehicle yielded what appeared to be stolen property from multiple burglaries. The investigation is ongoing and the search for the two other suspects continues.
Police ask that anyone with information to contact the Central Florida Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS.