Teen jumps to his death after police chase

A high speed police chase ended in tragedy on Thursday after a teenage suspect jumped to his death rather than be apprehended.

The Florida Highway Patrol said that two teenagers fled in their vehicle from an attempted traffic stop, crashed on the Howard Frankland Bridge, and then both jumped into Tampa Bay.

One of the suspects, identified as Torren Lee Jackson, 16, of Tampa, was dead when authorities pulled him from the water, according to a report in the Tampa Bay Times.

The other youngster, Joshua Richard Reed-Acton, 18, of Temple Terrace, survived but was seriously injured when he was pulled out of the water. He is currently recovering in the hospital.

Investigators were still working Friday to confirm which of the teens was driving, said Sgt. Steve Gaskins, a spokesman for the Highway Patrol.

Police discovered a large amount of cash and drugs in the crashed car, and also said that neither teen had a valid license to be driving.

The incident started at about 4:10 p.m. Thursday when a trooper attempted to pull over a car speeding north on Interstate 275 near milepost 28 in St. Petersburg, rapidly approaching the bridge.

The car at times exceeded 120 mph, the Highway Patrol said, passed a trooper and kept going. The trooper eventually gave up the chase because the fleeing car was going so fast, and driving so erratically, that it became too dangerous to continue the pursuit.

Certainly, the car was going so fast that it was not able to slow down as it entered the Howard Frankland. It was still speeding when it crashed into three vehicles on the Tampa side of the bridge.

Two males exited the crashed car, troopers said, and jumped over the bridge’s concrete barrier and into the waters of Tampa Bay.

A rush of law enforcement and rescue vehicles arrived and blocked all northbound lanes. The bridge entrance into Tampa is one of the worst traffic choke points in the Tampa Bay region, and Thursday’s events only made that worse.

Tampa Fire Rescue said one person — identified by troopers Friday as Reed-Acton — was alive and injured when he was pulled from the water by a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission boat sent to the scene.

Troopers have not said what kind of drugs were found in the car or what kind of charges Reed-Acton might face.