3 teens arrested after breaking into Bradenton vape shop, crashing stolen car
BRADENTON, Fla. - Three teens were arrested for breaking into a Bradenton vape shop and leading Manatee County deputies on a chase early Friday morning, according to the sheriff's office.
The Manatee County Sheriff's Office said the group of suspects broke into Big Boy Vapors on Cortez Road. Investigators said they saw the trio driving a stolen Kia Soul and breaking into the vape shop at around 3:45 a.m.
"These are juveniles that are out committing crimes," Randy Warren, the public information officer for MCSO, said. "They should be at home sleeping at three o’clock in the morning," he said.
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Warren said detectives organized an operation to catch the suspects, three 16-year-olds, based on a trend of vape shop burglaries in the area and intelligence.
"We knew they were going to strike again. We knew they were going to be in this particular area. We also knew that there were stolen cars involved in this was a stolen Kia, and we've seen a trend of that as well, connected with these vape shops," Warren said.
Suspects were seen burglarizing a vape shop. Courtesy: Manatee County Sheriffs Office
Once the deputies spotted them, the teen suspects fled in the stolen Kia, authorities said. They led deputies on a chase, and they ended up crashing the car in the 6800 block of 26th Street West.
After the crash, MCSO said deputies said they ran after the suspects and were able to catch two of them. The third suspect was caught by a K9 unit deputy moments after the other two were taken into custody.
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Manatee County deputies said no one was injured during the chase.
Friday, the damage from the incident was visible at Big Boy Vapors. An employee said the door was shattered.
"It ends up being money out of the owner’s pocket to fix all this stuff," the employee said.
Three suspects were caught by deputies. Courtesy: Manatee County Sheriff's Office
He said they have a security system and take as many precautions as they can, and had a warning for anyone else who may try to take from them.
"It's just not smart … I'll be blunt. Florida is a non-licensed carry state. Do not break into small businesses," the employee said. "You are not only putting the person in the store at risk, you're putting yourself at risk, and nobody wants to be in that situation. So please, I beg you, don’t put people in that situation. Don’t break into the shops."
The teens were all arrested on burglary charges for breaking into the vape shop, stealing the vehicle and resisting without violence, officials said.
One of the teenagers had been arrested for his role in burglarizing vape shops before, according to detectives. He was charged with breaking into multiple vape businesses in the area.
Deputies said the stolen car and vape items were given back to the victims.
The investigation into other vape burglaries is ongoing. Detectives said additional arrests are likely.