WILDWOOD, Fla. – A teenager got himself a new SUV and had an eventful couple of days driving it, but he hasn’t been behind the wheel in three weeks. It’s in pretty bad shape, and the young driver has been in jail for crimes in and out of the SUV.
His trail of trouble started after 1 a.m. on Jan. 8. A corporal with the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office in Florida got a call about a disturbance;
specifically, “A[n] SUV was driving around the neighborhood repeatedly and erratically,” the arrest report said. “While on scene, I observed a dark-in-color Chevrolet Trailblazer pass my location on Walden Street, running a stop sign.
“I also observed the vehicle did not have a license plate attached, and appeared to have damage to the front end, as the bumper was almost dragging the ground.
“At that time, I attempted to catch up to the vehicle due to the observed violations.”
Easier said than done. The task took two days.
The corporal described “the vehicle driving erratically, exceeding the posted speed limit, and running stop signs,” while following the SUV from one road to another and another in his “fully-marked, agency-issued patrol vehicle.”
At one point, “I was able to catch the vehicle on CR 128,” the corporal wrote, “and at that time, activated my red/blue lights and vehicle siren to conduct the traffic stop. I observed the vehicle increase in speed and run through the stop sign at CR 128 and CR 121, with an obvious intent to flee from law enforcement.
“Due to the violations not meeting the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office pursuit policy, I deactivated my lights/siren and did not continue to follow the vehicle.”
There would soon be another opportunity.
The corporal pulled over for “several minutes” and then returned “to the original complainant’s location. At that time, I observed the same Chevrolet Trailblazer traveling north on CR 127 towards my location. I stopped on the roadway and activated my red/blue patrol vehicle lights.
“I observed the vehicle swerve around my stationary vehicle and flee east on C-462. As the vehicle passed my position, I observed the driver to be a young thin male with no other observed occupants.”
Then, he discovered what happened to the SUV.
“I later located damage to the fencing and several grave markers at the Greenwood Cemetery caused by a vehicle,” the corporal continued, “which is the same area I originally observed the Trailblazer driving erratically. The Wildwood Police Department initiated an investigation into the damage.”
Police officers from the second law enforcement agency went to the cemetery at about 2:30 a.m. “in reference to a hit-and-run with property damage,” their arrest report said. Officers got surveillance video “that depicted a dark-in-color SUV driving recklessly through the cemetery and colliding into the chain link fence, destroying two tombstones.”
The evidence became much more specific when officers “collected several car parts that were left on the scene of the hit-and-run. Those parts that were collected depicted part numbers; those part numbers were utilized to determine the vehicle that caused the hit-and-run with property damage belonged to a Chevy Trailblazer. The hit-and-run collision created approximately $1,000 of damage to the tombstones and the chain link fence.”
Detectives drove around, looking for the SUV. Two days later, they reported finding it at a home in “the same area the vehicle fled,” with “similar front-end damage and no license plate attached.”
Officers looking for Ricardo Isrrael Casas “were met at the door by the defendant’s mother, who allowed detectives to enter.”
According to the arrest report, “The defendant stated he was out joyriding in his vehicle, through the cemetery, when the vehicle jerked, causing him to lose control. The defendant stated in a panic, he drove home.
“The defendant was asked about the deputy that was trying to catch him; he said he was scared, which is why he didn’t stop for the deputy.”
The police charged Casas with two counts of leaving the scene of a crash involving property damage.
And, Casas reportedly told the corporal, “The vehicle did not have an attached license plate as he recently purchased it, and had not registered it in his name.”
Plus, to explain his driving, “The defendant advised he does not have a driver’s license and has never had a valid driver’s license.”
The sheriff’s office charged Casas with fleeing to elude law enforcement and driving without a valid license.
That’s four charges so far, and more to come.
Police detectives wrote in a third arrest report that
Casas “was also a person of interest for multiple criminal mischief cases.” Those crimes involved “damage done to a posted construction site.” The site was about 500 meters from Casas’ home.
Authorities said he “confessed to the hit-and-run with property damage,” and “was asked about any involvement in causing property damage to the aforementioned construction site, to which the defendant denied having any involvement.
“The defendant was then showed a video that was provided to the Wildwood Police Department which shows a [man] removing survey stakes from the construction site, as notated in the original reports, dated on 10/15/2024 at approximately 2335 hours.
“When the defendant was asked who the individual was in the video, he replied ‘that’s me.’
“The defendant confessed to causing property damage to the construction site on three separate occasions, dated 10/15/2024, 12/9/2024 and 12/12/2024.”
Casas, 18, was charged with three counts of criminal mischief with damage of $1,000 or more, and three counts of trespassing at a construction site with a posted warning.
His bond for those 10 charges was set at $26,000, and he has not been released from jail.
Discover more from CohenConnect.com
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Wow what are the young people of this generation really made of so sick to think he is so above the law. Thanks Lenny I enjoyed reading this story. Some crazy ass young people
Thanks, Harold! Times certainly change, but I wonder if we’re learning more about this stuff due to advances in communication.