FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – The Flagler County sheriff praised his agency’s “Realtime Crime Center” in the tracking and arrest of two people on Friday who are accused of stealing a car from Palm Coast and filling it with items stolen from area residences.
A woman in Palm Coast reported her minivan had been stolen overnight, a news release shows. The sheriff’s office said its realtime crime tools helped investigators track the vehicle to St. Johns County and back within minutes, drawing deputies to the van’s last known location in Flagler County.
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Law enforcement reached the area of Palm Coast Parkway NE and Boulder Rock Drive, where the vehicle took off upon seeing deputies, the release shows. However, other deputies had since established a perimeter and were already prepared with stop sticks nearby, according to the sheriff’s office.
A positive hit on the van brought it to a stop near Palm Coast Parkway SW and Cypress Point Parkway, deputies said.
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The driver — identified as Nathan Ellison, 30 — tried to run away and was arrested after a brief foot pursuit, the release shows. Ellison’s passenger, identified as 26-year-old Veronica Brady, was also arrested.
Looking into the van, deputies said they located lawncare tools and other property that had been called in to the sheriff’s office as stolen during the investigation.
Ellison and Brady both face a charge of grand theft of a motor vehicle, with Ellison facing charges of fleeing and eluding and resisting arrest without violence and Brady facing a charge of possession of burglary tools with intent. Ellison is also wanted in Duval County “for Fraudulent Activities,” according to the release.
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