A pair of male Nocatee teens, ages 15 and 16, were arrested over the weekend for allegedly stealing two golf carts in separate incidents, according to the St. Johns County Sheriffs Office.
The department said Tuesday that a couple reported their golf cart stolen from the Splash water park parking lot Saturday while they were inside.
The victims told police that they had their key with them and that no one else was authorized to use their red Advanced 6-seater EV.
That same evening, another Nocatee resident called deputies and said her golf cart went missing from her apartment complex parking lot.
She and her husband told deputies that they had equipped the vehicle with a tracker that showed it parked on a median near their home. They canvassed the area but were unable to find it.
A friend in a group chat later sent the couple a picture of a golf cart halfway submerged in a pond in the vicinity.
Deputies accompanied the couple to the site and found the missing cart.
They pulled the sodden vehicle out of the pond, but the owner later said water had leached into its electrical components and rendered the $11,000 EV unusable.
Early the following morning around 2 a.m., deputies were called to the Starling Assisted Living facility on Crosswater Parkway after reports of suspicious persons on the property.
Police said two male teens hid behind vehicles upon their arrival before taking off on foot. They were ultimately apprehended.
A redacted police report states that video was obtained from the phone of one of the two suspects showing their accomplice driving the cart directly into the pond.
“Oh f—, n—-!” the teen filming the incident can be heard saying as the cart hurtled into the water, according to police paperwork.
The Citizen is not naming the minor suspects in the case.
The teens’ parents were called to the scene and urged them to confess any other misconduct.
One of them ultimately admitted to stealing the other missing cart from Splash with the same accomplice and told deputies where they could find it.
The vehicle was located near Dick’s Wings in Nocatee and had been entirely spray-painted in an apparent attempt to conceal the crime.
Both victims elected to press charges.
