A 16-year-old and a 17-year-old from Zephyrhills are in custody after Florida Highway Patrol troopers say they caused four hit-and-run crashes while fleeing law enforcement in a stolen Kia Soul, triggering a chase that stretched across multiple miles of southbound Interstate 275 during Wednesday morning rush hour.
According to Tampa Bay 28, 17-year-old Braden Wallace and 16-year-old Jeffrey Bettis were arrested by Florida Highway Patrol troopers with assistance from the Tampa Police Department and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. The Florida Highway Patrol said the pair were jailed after causing four hit-and-run crashes in Hillsborough County while fleeing law enforcement, per the agency's account. A Tampa police officer had spotted Wallace and Bettis wearing masks and attempted a traffic stop on the Kia, according to the FHP report cited by Tampa Bay 28.
Chaos Along I-275 During Morning Commute
The trouble began around 8 a.m. Wednesday when the white Kia Soul crashed into stopped traffic on southbound I-275 near the Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard exit, as WTSP reported, right as officers were attempting to pull the vehicle over. Rather than stopping, the driver fled the scene, setting off a chain of collisions that continued as the Kia sped away from Tampa police. The vehicle went on to cause four separate hit-and-run crashes near Armenia Avenue after fleeing the Tampa Police Department.
The pursuit's damage spread across an unusually long stretch of highway. Per FOX 13 Tampa Bay, the four crashes stretched from Armenia Avenue in Tampa all the way to mile marker 55 near Lutz, underscoring how long the hazard lingered for morning commuters navigating the interstate. The Kia eventually became disabled after sustaining damage from the multiple crashes, at which point Wallace and Bettis abandoned it and ran on foot.
Stolen Kia Traced Back to Pasco County
Tampa police and Hillsborough County deputies assisted with a foot pursuit before locating both suspects. FOX 13 Tampa Bay reported that the white Kia Soul had been reported stolen out of Pasco County and had a damaged ignition — a detail that points toward the kind of ignition-bypass theft method that has become common among teenage car thieves targeting this vehicle brand.
That detail fits a pattern local authorities have been warning about for more than a year. The Pasco Sheriff's Office issued public safety advisories in July 2025 and again in July 2026 alerting residents to a rise in auto burglaries and vehicle thefts across the county, urging nightly locking routines to deter thieves. Older Kia and Hyundai models lacking electronic engine immobilizers have become frequent targets nationwide, according to data published by the National Insurance Crime Bureau in 2024, a vulnerability that has fueled a wave of ignition-bypass thefts often carried out by juveniles.
What Charges Could Follow
It remains unknown whether any motorists or bystanders were injured in the four crashes, an open question that carries real legal weight. Under Florida law, leaving the scene of a crash that causes only property damage is a second-degree misdemeanor, but the charge becomes a third-degree felony if anyone was hurt, according to legal guidance published by Burnetti, P.A. Fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer is itself a felony under Florida Statute 316.1935, carrying up to five years in prison, and can escalate to a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years if the driver fled at high speed or with wanton disregard for safety, per the Law Office of Roger P. Foley. Whether the teens will ultimately be charged as adults given the scope of the public endangerment across two jurisdictions is also unresolved.
Part of a Larger Trend
The case lands amid a broader statistical rise in vehicle theft. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting data released in 2024 showed the national motor vehicle theft rate climbing from 199.4 per 100,000 people in 2019 to 283.5 per 100,000 in 2023, a surge the agency attributed largely to juvenile offenders. Florida's own 2024 statewide rate stood at 42.5 per 100,000 residents, according to the Florida Department of Health, while the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles has noted that passenger cars make up more than 74 percent of all stolen vehicles, with nationwide losses from auto theft estimated near $7 billion annually.
Wednesday's chase adds to a string of dangerous roadway incidents Hoodline has tracked in the greater Tampa Bay region this year, including a fatal pre-dawn Pasco crash in April and a fiery Treiman Boulevard collision in Zephyrhills the following month. It also echoes a case out of Pennsylvania earlier this year in which a teen died during a police chase involving a stolen Kia Soul, a reminder of how frequently that vehicle model turns up in juvenile theft cases nationwide.
