Three teenagers were charged with felony grand theft on Wednesday after a vehicle was reported missing from an Ocala apartment complex.
Ocala Police officers received a report of a white Kia Spectra being stolen from the Carrington Lane Apartment Homes at 3001 SE Lake Weir Ave. The vehicle was reported to be heading north on Baseline Road at 12:42 a.m. and was then located in the Wal-Mart parking lot at 4980 E Silver Springs Blvd.
Responding officers set up a perimeter around the unoccupied vehicle to secure the scene. A short time later, four juveniles came out of the Wal-Mart through the grocery exit and fled after seeing officers in the parking lot, a police report states, adding that one stopped, identified himself and was cooperative with officers.
Video surveillance was obtained and officers observed the small passenger car arrive in the Wal-Mart parking lot and the four juveniles exit the vehicle. Attempts to contact their parents were unsuccessful and three of the four – one is 16 and the other two are 14 – were charged with grand theft auto, the report says.