The Eyrie

NEW PORT RICHEY, FL — A Florida Highway Patrol pursuit in Pasco County ended with a 15-year-old passenger dead and the teenage driver badly hurt after a trooper used a PIT maneuver, according to law enforcement and local reporting. Investigators say the chase began when the SUV was spotted speeding on State Road 54 in the early morning hours of July 26.

Authorities said the vehicle was traveling 74 mph in a 45 mph zone around 3:45 a.m. before the driver failed to stop. FHP says speeds later climbed as high as 115 mph during the chase. The SUV then rotated after the PIT, struck a utility pole and hit a tree on the south shoulder.

Teen driver and passenger were both 15 and neither wore a seat belt

The driver was a 15-year-old with a learner’s permit who was behind the wheel of his mother’s Chevrolet Traverse, according to the account cited by local reporting. The passenger was also 15 years old. Officials said both boys were in the SUV when it left the roadway after the PIT.

Florida Highway Patrol said neither teen was wearing a seat belt. The passenger died at the scene or shortly after the crash, while the driver survived with serious injuries. FHP also said alcohol was found in the SUV, though officials have not said whether either boy had been drinking.

How the chase escalated from a traffic stop to a deadly crash

Police said the trooper tried to stop the SUV after the speeding violation, but the driver kept going. FHP has not identified the trooper involved, and officials have not said exactly how fast the vehicle was traveling at the moment the PIT was performed.

After the maneuver, the SUV spun onto the shoulder and hit fixed objects in the roadside area. The crash left the passenger dead and the driver injured. The circumstances have raised renewed questions about how Florida Highway Patrol handles pursuits that begin with relatively minor traffic offenses and then quickly intensify at highway speeds.

FHP says its investigation is still open and a policy review is required

Florida Highway Patrol told Tampa Bay 28 that its investigation remains active. The station reported that agency policy requires an internal review after any fatal pursuit, including an examination of whether the trooper followed procedure. FHP has not said when that review will be finished.

As of Nov. 2, the State Attorney’s Office had not yet received the investigation file, according to reporting cited in the story, and no charging decision had been made. The medical examiner has also withheld the autopsy because the case remains open.

The agency's pursuit rules changed in late 2023

Florida Highway Patrol’s pursuit policy has been under scrutiny since it was rewritten. The agency’s publicly posted Policy 17.05, revised Oct. 11, 2022, set a narrow standard for starting a chase: troopers had to reasonably believe a driver committed a felony, reckless driving, or DUI, and the policy said all other pursuits were prohibited.

A later version, which WFTV reported took effect on Dec. 22, 2023, removed that gate. Under the newer approach described in the story, troopers can begin a pursuit once a driver flees if they judge it safe and appropriate. The policy also treats the PIT maneuver as the primary way to end a chase.

A Miami Herald tally says pursuit deaths have climbed since the policy shift

The Tampa Bay Times story included a Miami Herald tally showing 34 deaths in FHP pursuits over nearly three years since the agency changed its chase rules. That count was built from FHP pursuit data and records requests, though the method was not fully explained in the reporting.

By that tally, 10 of the dead were not involved in the chase, and more than 180 innocent people were injured. At least five of those killed were teenagers. The figures cited in the story also showed seven pursuit deaths in the three years before the policy change, compared with 17 in 2024 and five in 2023.

Florida law makes fleeing a trooper a felony, but the case remains unresolved

Florida’s fleeing statute can carry serious penalties. Fleeing a marked patrol car with its lights and siren activated is a third-degree felony, while fleeing at high speed or with wanton disregard for safety is a second-degree felony. If the flight causes serious bodily injury or death, the offense can rise to a first-degree felony with a mandatory prison term.

Separate licensing rules also appear relevant. Under Florida law, a learner’s permit holder must be accompanied by a licensed driver at least 21 years old in the front passenger seat, and after the first three months cannot drive past 10 p.m. Prosecutors have not yet made a charging decision, and family members quoted in the reporting said they blame the trooper and want the driver not to be jailed.