Flagler County Sheriff's Office arrests car theft suspect after 34-hour pursuit

The car had been reported stolen in Eustis, and the suspect had stopped in Palm Coast for gas.


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  • | 1:46 p.m. December 13, 2019
Anthony Mobley Jr. Photo courtesy of the FCSO
Anthony Mobley Jr. Photo courtesy of the FCSO
  • Palm Coast Observer
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By: Brittany Kershaw
Public Affairs Manager, Flagler County Sheriff's Office

A man suspected of stealing a vehicle in Eustis stopped to gas up the car in Flagler County, and deputies arrested him after a 34-hour pursuit.

“If you steal a vehicle and need gas, Flagler County isn’t the right place to stop,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “This guy was on the run from us for over 34 hours but we knew with the community’s help and good police work we would find him. Now he has a room at the Green Roof Inn. If he’d checked in sooner, he might not be so tired. This is another example of the community seeing something and saying something. Thank you to the community for calling in tips and to our deputies for not giving up until he was in jail.”

“If you steal a vehicle and need gas, Flagler County isn’t the right place to stop.”

— RICK STALY, Flagler County sheriff

The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office was alerted to a stolen vehicle from Eustis that was traveling in Flagler County around 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning, Dec. 11 

Deputies located the suspect and stolen vehicle as he was getting fuel at the Shell station on Boulder Rock Drive.

FCSO attempted a traffic stop on the vehicle on I-95, but the vehicle failed to stop and fled at a high rate of speed. 

The Bunnell Police Department (BPD) was notified when the vehicle entered the city of Bunnell. BPD was able to successfully deploy stop sticks to puncture the vehicle’s tires.

The vehicle was disabled, and a male fled on foot from the car into the wood line.

A perimeter was set up, but the suspect was not found. His clothing was found in the woods, and the suspect was reported to be seen wearing only boxer shorts.

A “Be On The Lookout” (BOLO) was issued to neighboring agencies and the description of the suspect was shared on FCSO’s social media networks.

Sightings of the suspect were reported on State Road 11 around 11 a.m. on Wednesday. Again, a perimeter was established by law enforcement, but the suspect continued to evade arrest.

The suspect was in a very dense wooded area, making him difficult to track, and air support from nearby agencies was not available because of weather. 

On Thursday afternoon, just after 1 p.m., a resident contacted 911 and reported a man wearing only boxer shorts was walking towards State Road 11 towards Cody’s Corner.

FCSO responded and found the suspect in the woods, identified him as 25-year-old Anthony J. Mobley Jr., and took him into custody. Mobley was charged with Resisting an Officer without Violence and Violation of Probation. He was booked into the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility where he is being held on no bond. 

Mobley had active warrants from Volusia County but had no prior arrest history in Flagler County. Additional charges are pending further investigation. 

Video of the apprehension can be viewed here (contains profanity): https://drive.google.com/open?id=1o_uXiF7lsVFFtDDiAz3-JnURWzB5ULdJ

 

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