On Sunday, June 11, 2023, at approximately 3:34 am, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office was notified by the St. John's County Sheriff’s Office of a stolen vehicle in their jurisdiction traveling toward Flagler County. The vehicle, a white Hyundai, had been reported stolen in Jacksonville and was reportedly traveling at speeds of over 100mph on US-1 in St. John’s County toward Flagler County.
FCSO deputies eventually located the vehicle driving south on US-1 with no headlights on. Deputies lost sight of the vehicle for a short period of time but later located the vehicle crashed and unoccupied near US-1 and Wellfield Grade.
Inside the wood line, just west of the crash location, three juveniles were located. The three juveniles stated that there were three other juveniles in the vehicle who had also fled from the stolen car. The FCSO Drone and K-9 Units responded to search for the remaining suspects in the nearby woods. Using FLIR technology on the drone, two of the other juveniles were located in the woods. The last remaining juvenile was later located near Matanzas Woods Parkway and US-1.
When the first three juveniles were taken into custody, one of the two males stated that there was a black male driver who was holding them at gunpoint while fleeing through multiple counties. However, through investigative means, one of the two males, 16-year-old Austin Tyler Perez Satterwhite of Jacksonville, was identified as the driver of the stolen vehicle. The other juveniles advised they had asked Satterwhite to stop the car and let them out while fleeing from law enforcement, however, Satterwhite refused to stop.
Satterwhite was transported to Advent Health - Palm Coast for evaluation of his injuries as a result of the crash and later taken to the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility for processing. Satterwhite was arrested for Grand Theft - Motor Vehicle, 5 counts of Child Abuse Without Great Bodily Harm, Reckless Driving with Damage to Person/Property, and Leaving the Scene of a Crash with Property Damage. Satterwhite was also issued several Uniform Traffic Citations. He was released to a parent by the Department of Juvenile Justice.
“These juveniles took their stolen car joyride too far and the juvenile driver is now facing several felony charges,” said Sheriff Rick Staly. “Fortunately, the other kids were not injured, and they did not injure anyone else as this could have been a deadly joyride. The real question is, ‘Where were the parents? And, did they know what their kids were doing at 3:30 in the morning?’ Thank you to the St. John’s County Sheriff’s Office for helping us apprehend this car thief and reckless driver.”
The other five children were released to their parents.
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