FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A police pursuit in Broward County ended with an Audi crashing into a Fort Lauderdale home Tuesday morning. But, according to the Broward Sheriff’s Office, the whole thing began with a stolen Mercedes.
The series of events ended in the 1500 block of Northwest 12th Terrace in the Lauderdale Manors neighborhood.
According to BSO, it all began after authorities were made aware that a Mercedes stolen in Boca Raton was headed south on Interstate 95.
BSO spokesperson Claudinne Caro said that the driver exited onto Griffin Road, turned around and headed back north on the interstate, eventually abandoning the vehicle along Broward Boulevard.
Caro said someone in an Audi, with three others inside, picked up the man driving the stolen Mercedes and the group drove through central Fort Lauderdale.
Eventually, she said three people got out of the Audi as the suspects continued driving through Fort Lauderdale.
In their wake, they crashed into at least three other vehicles, causing minor injuries, authorities said.
Eventually, the driver crashed into the Northwest 12th Terrace home and bailed out, Caro said.
“I saw the car, I said, ‘Oh Jesus, help!” a witness said.
Authorities said Fort Lauderdale police took him into custody. Officials haven’t publicly identified any of the suspects as of around noon Tuesday.
No one inside the home was hurt.
“I (saw) the car come in very fast, lose control, hit my fence,” homeowner Joseph Metayer said. “You see where the piece dropped over, then it (stopped) on the wall.”
The owners of the Audi arrived at the scene soon after the crash. They said they had rented it to someone using the app Turo and the renter had reported it stolen. GPS date led the owners to the scene.
They said data from the app showed the car going more than 100 mph at one point.
Caro said the case remains under investigation.