DeLand, FL – A 44-year-old man and a 33-year-old woman are both dead following a carjacking that turned into a multi-vehicle accident on US 17/92 near DeLand.
Charles T. Boyd and Lucy A. Hellstrom – both from DeLand – were killed around 11:45am Thursday after the stolen Chrysler PT Cruiser they were in crashed 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 – believed to be Boyd – nearly collided with a DeLand 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.”
Deputies believe Boyd picked up Hellstrom at some point during the chase. Both of them were found dead in the stolen Chrysler once VCSO and the DeLand Police Department got to the accident scene.
DeLand PD is investigating the accident portion of the incident while VCSO is handling the carjacking and chase portions.
DeLand PD Sergeant Chris Estes says the PT Cruiser hit a gray Toyota Camry driven by a 77-year-old DeBary woman and a white Volkswagen Jetta driven by a 32-year-old DeLand woman. Both were taken to Florida Hospital DeLand from the scene for treatment of non life-threatening injuries.
“Video or other images cannot be released by the DeLand Police Department as part of the on-going traffic homicide investigation, which is in its very early stages,” Estes added.
Another vehicle – a silver Hyundai driven by a 20-year-old Lake Mary woman – was hit with debris from the crash, but she was not injured, per Estes.
Estes also noted that Boyd managed to avoid stop sticks deployed by DeLand PD at the northbound off ramp of SR 472 and 17/92 and again at Firehouse Road and 17/92 prior to the crash.
The southbound part of US 17/92 near DeLand was shut down for hours afterward as VCSO and DeLand PD processed the crash scene.
Volusia County Jail records show Hallstrom had been booked 2 times there in the past 2 months. The first came June 18th on charges of drug paraphernalia possession, petit theft and a drug offense. She was also arrested July 22nd on a check forgery charge.
As for Boyd, he had been booked at VCJ 5 times since April 2004, including 3 times since October 2014. His most recent booking came May 15th on 2 counts of check forgery, methamphetamine possession, making or delivering meth and marijuana possession.
Charles T. Boyd (mugshot courtesy Volusia County Jail)
Lucy A. Hellstrom (mugshot courtesy Volusia County Jail)
Copyright 2015 Southern Stone Communications.