Stolen car suspects nabbed on Howard Frankland Bridge

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (FOX 13) - It was smooth sailing for Tampa-bound traffic on the Howard Frankland Bridge Wednesday until deputies tracked down and pulled over a stolen car.

The traffic caused a mess for anyone needing to get somewhere on time. Pinellas County deputies stopped the stolen vehicle near the middle span of the bridge.

It started in St. Petersburg, where stolen cars have been a topic of discussion. On Monday morning, the driver of a stolen Infinity hit and killed a 26-year-old woman.

Later that night, a 15-year-old driving a stolen Toyota Camry ran a stop sign and crashed into a St. Petersburg police officer's car.

St. Pete police say there is one way to stop this from happening: "We're still having a problem with between 60% and 70% of the people are still leaving their keys in their cars, are still leaving their cars running," said Chief Anthony Holloway.

Pinellas County deputies said there was no pursuit or crash in Wednesday's incident on I-275, however, they blocked off two lanes while they took two suspects into custody.

"I had just texted my mom that traffic was only bad coming out of Tampa and then right after that we stopped," said Claudine Terry.

"It could definitely be a hassle. We were anticipating in a way, but we weren't anticipating a stolen vehicle," said Nikita Goldenberg.

Claudine Terry said protecting yourself should be second nature.

"You just have to change your mindset...I've just always been taught to make sure your doors are locked. Park under lights. Park as close to your room as you can if you're getting a hotel and we keep our keys on us. We aren't going to keep any keys in the car, the car running or anything like that when we are traveling," she said.