Traveling Florida Thieves’ Shopping Spree Ends In A Flat Tire Fiasco
A quartet of would-be bandits from Fort Lauderdale learned a valuable lesson this week: sometimes, the getaway is harder than the heist. After a successful shopping spree at Target and Best Buy in Martin County, their escape plan hit a snag – or rather, several stopsticks.
The chase began when a sharp-eyed Stuart police officer spotted their rented minivan. Martin County Sheriff's deputies, not ones to let a good chase go to waste, initiated a county-wide lock-in. The driver, Eric Jahmel James, 39, apparently missed the memo about surrendering peacefully and decided to lead police on a high-speed chase with his lights off.
Despite deputies deploying stop sticks, which effectively shredded the minivan's tires, James soldiered on, seemingly determined to prove that four wheels are optional. The van wobbled and rocked, shedding wheels like a dog sheds fur in summer, but James refused to give up.
Finally, MCSO deputies, perhaps feeling a bit sorry for the minivan at this point, strategically helped it off the road. Inside, they found over $3,000 in stolen goods and James's bewildered accomplices: Willie Scott, 46, Nathaniel Belford, 30, and Monique Smith, 37.
James, Scott, and Belford were charged with retail theft and fleeing and eluding. Smith, claiming she was just an innocent bystander, was arrested on an outstanding warrant for drug trafficking. Guess her ride-sharing app took a wrong turn!
This incident serves as a reminder that crime doesn't pay, and sometimes, it doesn't even get you very far. The suspects' ill-fated escape attempt only added insult to injury, turning a simple theft into a comedy of errors.
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