FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Four people have been taken into custody following a chase and crash Thursday afternoon in Fort Lauderdale.
According to Fort Lauderdale police, officers located what was described as a “felony vehicle,” which authorities later said was related to a stolen vehicle investigation by the Plantation Police Department, as well as a kidnapping investigation by the Miami Police Department.
Police said the four men kidnapped a man outside of a Flanagan’s and then drove the victim around to different banks to withdraw money.
The victim told investigators that one of the men allegedly pistol whipped the victim and then ditched him at another bank where a teller called authorities.
Police said officers attempted to pull the vehicle over in the 3100 block of Davie Boulevard around 3:30 p.m., but it took off and a chase ensued.
Police said the pursuit ended when the vehicle crashed into another car in the area of Southwest Third Street and 27th Terrace.
Surveillance video captured the collision, which shows the suspect vehicle coming to a stop after crashing into the side of a home.
After the crash, four suspects bailed out of the car and tried to flee, but all were taken into custody, police said.
Additional surveillance video showed one suspect crawling away from the wreckage on his stomach following the crash.
The four suspects, as well as the driver of the second vehicle, were taken to Broward Health North by Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue to be evaluated for non-life-threatening injuries.
The suspects were identified by police Friday as Berry Petitdos, 17; Leondre Walker, 19; Kevin Tomlinson, 18; and Erick Melgar, 18.
All face charges of grand theft auto. Petitdos and Walker face additional charges of resisting without violence and Melgar faces additional charges of aggravated fleeing and eluding with serious injury and fleeing and eluding law enforcement.
According to Miami police, the incident in their jurisdiction occurred around 10 a.m. Thursday near 2721 Bird Ave.
Police said a group of people approached the victim in a 2019 Jeep that had been reported stolen out of Plantation.
The suspects then drove the victim to multiple banks to have him withdraw funds from his bank account, but were not successful, authorities said.
Police said one of the suspects struck the victim in the face with a gun while inside the vehicle.
“The last attempt was at a Bank of America in Plantation,” a spokesperson for the police department said in an email to Local 10 News. “The victim was able to ask the teller for assistance at the Bank of America, the offenders then fled.”