Matthew Spencer, 17, of Palm Coast was taken into custody on charges of Grand Theft – Motor Vehicle and Leaving Scene of Crash Involving Damage to Property.
On June 25 at 1:04 a.m., Deputy Brown was dispatched to Florida Park Drive and Palm Harbor Parkway in response to a silver Chevy SUV that was reported crashed and stuck off the roadway. The reporting party advised the FCSO Communications Center they saw two black males wearing grey clothing run away from the vehicle after it crashed.
Upon checking the vehicle tag, the owner was identified who stated she was unaware that her vehicle was missing and thought it was in her driveway. She said that her grandson, later identified as Matthew Spencer, was not home as he was supposed to be and that he likely took the vehicle as no one else had access to the keys.
Spencer was located walking near a residence on Forest Hill Drive, along with two other males. They matched the description provided by the reporting party and guardian. Post-Miranda, Spencer admitted to taking his grandmother’s vehicle without her permission and took the vehicle to go pick up his friends. He stated that he was driving at approximately 60 MPH and attempted to make a turn and the brakes failed to work. After crashing the vehicle, Spencer and the two other males fled from the scene. The key to the stolen vehicle was found in his pocket.
Spencer was arrested for Grand Theft – Auto and issued a citation for leaving the scene of the crash with property damage. He also had a restricted license for business purposes only and was issued a citation for violation of his driver’s license restriction.
Spencer was transported to the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility for processing and turned over to the Department of Juvenile Justice, who later released him to a guardian. The other two males were determined to be uninvolved in the theft of the vehicle.
“This is another great example of someone ‘seeing something and saying something’ that resulted in the recovery of a stolen car and the arrest of the person that stole it,” said Sheriff Rick Staly. “This kid learned the hard way about his bad decision for a joy ride. Hopefully, he will think twice before stealing a car from anybody again and get his life back on track.”
View bodycam footage here: https://bit.ly/3xlIa4s