Police shoot, wound teen driver

A 16-year-old driver crashed into a vacant house early Thursday after he was shot by police for allegedly trying to run over an officer, Sunrise police said.

The shooting happened off Northwest 19th Street in Sunrise, just before 1 a.m. Thursday morning.

Police say the Lauderhill police officer involved tried to stop a driver who was driving erratically in a blue Mercedes SUV.

"The officer went to initiate a stop and get the person to stop," said Capt. Rick Rocco with the Lauderhill Police Department.  "Preliminary information is that the vehicle accelerated toward the officer, and the officer discharged his firearm."

The teen was hit in the arm and crashed the SUV into an abandoned house in Sunrise.

"I heard screeching tires because he was trying to get away," said witness Angela Alvin.

Police now believe the SUV was stolen.

Bernadette Brince, a Lauderhill resident, told Local 10 that her son's 16-year-old friend stole her car while she was sleeping.

"I put my keys inside my house and went to sleep," Brince said.

Brince said the teen does not have a driver's license and does not know how to drive.

"He looked clueless, like he was just trying to get out of the way," Alvin said.

"That's stupid. That's my car. Why did he take my car?" Brince said.

The teen, who has not been identified, was taken to Broward General Medical Center for treatment and has since been released. Police said he was taken to the Sunrise Police Department, where police said he admitted to stealing the car and accelerating toward the officer.

Sunrise police said he was charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, grand theft auto and not having a valid driver's license. He was taken to the Juvenile Assessment Center.

The police officer involved in the incident, a veteran of the force, was not injured.