When the News Finds You
/
WKMG (Orlando) Reporter James Sparvero was reporting from a street corner in Titusville when an out-of-control Nissan Altima raced by going more than double the speed limit.
Sparvero called Titusville police.
"This person blows by me I'd say at 50 or 60 on this residential street," Sparvero told the dispatcher. "And I've been witnessing this very reckless driver; I think I should report because I think it's a danger to the public."
Dispatchers alerted patrol units to be on the lookout for the Altima.
Patrol Officer Jason Sanchez was the first to respond.
Just as he began searching for the speeder, he learned the car had crashed.
"When I first pulled up on scene, with all of that debris, I really thought I was going to have serious injuries," Sanchez said.
Sanchez determined the Nissan had been stolen. He said the driver of the Nissan had been joyriding with teenagers driving an older model Cadillac, speeding through residential neighborhoods.
The cars crashed into each other and also hit two innocent drivers.
"The crash could've turned fatal real quickly, especially at excessive speeds," Sanchez said. "It very easily could have been a fatal crash had it been a head-on collision."
The young men in the cars got out and ran, but by then, police had good descriptions and good leads and officers were in the area.
They tracked down all three within half an hour, arresting 21-year-old Michael Bradshaw and a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old.
Police said Bradshaw had been arrested seven times during the past two years, most recently for grand theft auto. Police said Bradshaw was on probation for stealing a previous car when he was arrested after crashing and leaving the scene of the crime.
Sparvero ended up switching his story that day; his new report focused on the crash and arrest of the three young men.
"What's interesting is Titusville police say they were racing each other," Sparvero said during his report. "I was in this vicinity and we witnessed the stolen Nissan driving at 50 or 60 miles an hour..."
Sanchez credited Sparvero with helping catch the young men.
"With James' tip that he called in, he saw something and said something and it helped us get results in the end," Sanchez said. "James got the ball rolling with the initial tip that came in so we knew it was a high possibility that the vehicle that rolled over was the same vehicle James called in."
Let this be a lesson to you news people out there, if you don't like the story you're on, make your own news.
H/T WKMG
