Car Theft Teen In Police-Involved Shooting Facing Multiple Charges
FORT LAUDERDALE (CBS4) - A teenager who was shot by police after he allegedly stole a car and accelerated toward officers is expected to be out of the hospital and taken to a juvenile detention facility Saturday.
Fort Lauderdale police said one of their officers opened fire on a 17-year-old Andre Chowtie in a stolen car after he accelerated toward officers with his car.
Police said Chowtie, of Palm Beach County, was struck and was taken to Broward General Medical Center on Friday where he is expected to be released before he is transferred to the detention facility.
Chowtie was charged with auto theft, reckless driving, and aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer.
Investigators believe that Chowtie is also the suspect in another violent crime and further charges are pending.
According to police, the shooting occurred at on N.E. 4th Street, just north of Andrews Avenue.
According to police, around 4:55 p.m. Friday an officer received a Lojack notification on a car, alerting them that the car was stolen. Officers tracked the car to BP gas station near Sunrise Boulevard.
At the gas station, according to a police, one of the three occupants of the car bailed out and the driver took off.
Minutes later and a short distance away, police said officers in an unmarked vehicle saw Chowtie hit a parking meter with his car.
Police tell CBS 4 News that officers got out of their cars to conduct a "high risk felony stop, the driver of the stolen vehicle accelerated towards the officers."
Police said the officer fired because he feared "for the safety of others, as well as himself."
We're told that none of the officers were injured.
"This is a tough time for everybody -- the suspect, the suspect's family, as well as the officers involved in this," said Ft. Lauderdale Police Detective Travis Mandell.
