Body camera video shows Florida woman jump in deputy's car before chase, deadly crash
By: Three people are dead, and another is hospitalized after the Marion County Sheriff’s Office says a woman stole a patrol car, led deputies on a high-speed chase, and then caused a crash.
The sheriff’s office says deputies were initially called to Forest Plaza off Highway 40 in Silver Springs for a report of a suspicious incident. Someone told dispatchers that a woman was trying to steal an elderly lady’s car. A woman working at a China King in that plaza says she also witnessed the woman trying to break into other cars too.
A deputy drove out there to try to help, but things went awry almost immediately. Body camera video shows the moment the sheriff’s office says 33-year-old Kendra Boone climbed in through the passenger side of the deputy’s patrol car.
"No!" the deputy shouts when he realizes what happened.
In seconds, the woman the sheriff’s office has identified as Boone is in the driver’s seat, "pedal to the metal" with another deputy after her. Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods says the theft could have happened to anyone.
"You saw how fast that happened. Even in my 34 years of experience, that would have happened to me," said Sheriff Woods.
Boone fled down Highway 40, with the sound of speeding cars and sirens drawing people out from shops along the way. Katelyn Rentz was one of them. She works at Big Pines Hardware, across the street from the plaza where the deputy’s car was stolen.
"It was, like, insane," said Rentz. "I have never seen that."
A man at an AutoZone near where the incident happened told FOX 35 he saw the whole thing and couldn’t believe his eyes. Rentz says she was in the same boat.
"It was a scary experience because you just don’t know what’s going on at that point," said Rentz. "People are crazy, man. That was my first thought. People are insane."
The sheriff’s office says she flew down the road at over 100 miles an hour, eventually slamming into a pickup, killing two of the three people inside and herself. The third person who was in that truck is still in the hospital.
Sheriff Billy Woods says Boone has faced charges all over the state and believes she should still have been in prison on Thursday when all this happened.
Asked whether the sheriff saw any issue with the deputy leaving his car running when he stepped out, the sheriff got heated.
"That means s***," the sheriff responded. "That doesn't play a factor in anything. This moron stole a police vehicle and killed two human beings. What my policies are and what the procedures are mean nothing. We did nothing wrong. My deputy did nothing wrong."