DeLand, FL – A carjacking at a car wash in DeBary ends with 2 people dead and several more hurt in a multi-vehicle crash on US 17/92 near DeLand.
The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office says a man who stole a vehicle and a woman in the passenger seat of that stolen car were dead when deputies got to the crash scene around 11:45am Thursday in front of the RC Hill Mitsubishi dealership near the intersection of South Woodland Boulevard and East Taylor Road.
VCSO spokesman Gary Davidson says it all started around 11:30am at the DeBary Car Wash on South Charles R. Beall Boulevard.
“A woman was manually washing her PT Cruiser at the business when a man accosted the victim, jumped in her car and sped off,” Davidson added. “Witnesses said the man in the stolen car headed northbound on South Charles R. Beall Boulevard.”
That started a chase which eventually ended around 10 miles north, most of it along US 17/92, which is also known as Charles R. Beall Boulevard in the DeBary area and Woodland Boulevard in the DeLand area.
“Responding officers spotted the vehicle about 6 minutes later passing Saxon Boulevard and followed it as it continued north towards DeLand,” Davidson said. “Along the way, the vehicle detoured on Kentucky Avenue and State Road 472, then turned around and headed back to 17/92.”
At separate points during the chase, the driver of the stolen Chrysler nearly collided with an Orance City Police Department vehicle head-on and drove the wrong way on 17/92, according to Davidson.
“Due to the incident starting with a forcible felony, Sheriff’s deputies initially pursued the stolen vehicle in an effort to get it stopped,” Davidson stated. “However, the decision was made to discontinue the pursuit and patrol units were a distance away from the vehicle when it wrecked in DeLand.”
How the accident happened isn’t clear at this point, according to Davidson, but deputies do believe the man who stole the Chrysler managed to pick up the woman at some point during the chase.
Davidson says the man and woman – who still haven’t been identified – died in the stolen Chrysler.
“The stolen car also struck 2 other occupied vehicles, resulting in several other injuries not believed to be life-threatening,” Davidson noted.
DeLand Police Department Sergeant Chris Estes says at least 2 other people were taken to Florida Hospital DeLand with possible broken bones.
The southbound part of US 17/92 near DeLand will be shut down for hours as deputies continue to investigate the incident.
Map of accident scene (courtesy of Google)
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