3 girls steal a car. They drive into a pond. Cops show up. They choose not to go in after the girls (Im not sure what protocol is there). Then the department puts out a statement saying the Cops dove in to try and save the girls.

Dashcam video shows Fla. deputies debating whether to rescue girls from stolen car in pond
Published April 22, 2016 FoxNews.com
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(Fox 13)
Dashcam video and audio released earlier this month show deputies debating whether to rescue three teenage girls from a stolen car as it was sinking in a Florida pond.

All three of the girls drowned. At one point, a deputy shouts, "I hear them yelling, I think," but they concluded it would be too unsafe to try pulling the girls out of the car, which had plunged 15 feet into the water.

It started when a deputy reported spotting the stolen 1998 Honda Accord without headlights on March 31 near St. Petersburg. After trying to escape law enforcement, the driver apparently missed a sharp turn near a cemetery, plunging into the water, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said.

Investigators said over the radio they initially thought the girls had escaped from the car and ran off as it sank, Bay News 9 reports. According to the sheriff's office, the deputies took off their gun belts and entered the water once they realized the girls were still in the car.

However, the officers claimed their feet sank in the bottom of the pond, leading them to believe a rescue would be too risky.

Eventually a deputy says, "Now, they’re done. They’re done."

The sheriff said the car was like a "death chamber," with its windows rolled up and doors closed.

Investigators identified the girls as Dominique Battle, 16, and Ashaunti Butler and Laniya Miller, both 15. The girls had been arrested a combined seven times for crimes including grand theft auto, the Tampa Tribune reports.

Lawyers representing the teens' families called the sheriff's office account a "smear campaign" full of holes. "There’s inconsistencies that need to be addressed, and we’re asking for those answers to come," attorney Michele Whitfield said.

What is the debate?

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I'm sure everything went down just as the officers described.

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

Well some people are very upset that the officers didnt go in to the water to try and save them

And that the department lied about it.


The lie is wrong. Im not sure what the cops were supposed to do though.

The lie is a little strange and unnecessary but there is no reason they should have gone in that water.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

why not ?

I don't think water rescue is in their job description.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Can't comment until I see a picture of the girls.

Dont cops often go above and beyond their job description though?

I've never really considered water rescues and cops but Ill tell you if I was a bystander before this story came out, Id expect the cops to rush in. Maybe Im way off.

Depends how dangerous the water.

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Elections have consequences.

"protect and serve"

it was water from Flint that was trucked in

Water changes things though. You are just as likely to make the situation worse if you aren't properly trained and equipped for it. Even strong swimmers have been killed doing rescues in water.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

its a freaking pond. you go in. at least make a half-hearted attempt.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

It'll eventually be spun if the girls were white they would've tried to rescue them .

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

Some mud bottom ponds are like quick sand, you step in and sink and can get stuck pretty quickly, I don't blame the cops for not going into the pond..gators, mud bottom? Who knows .. The lying is so routine it comes natural for the department.

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I'm with Rick on this. If the girls are in your reach you should probably try to save them. Beyond that there is no need to risk your life. The lie was unnecessary though.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

It was also night making it much harder to determine just how dangerous it is.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

well shit in the middle of the night....are those cop flashlights waterproof? If not forget about it.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Pictures and videos: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -pond.html

Never a good idea to jump into a Florida pond, but the video does seem kinda callous.

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Why are only 14 percent of black CPS 11th-graders proficient in English?

I dont think its a color thing but I think the fact that they were criminals on the run from the law maybe played a little bit into the decision.


If it was just some citizen run off the road by a drunk driver, would they go in?

I don't think there is anything they could have done.

I'm trying something. Don't you have like 15 minutes until they're brain dead?

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

This.

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

They lied because they don't want people saying they should have tried instead of letting 3 kids die.

Have you guys ever been to Florida???? You don't go within 5 feet of the ponds/lakes down there, let alone going in them. Same goes for the woods.


Are you guys aware of these animals that exist in bodies of water in Florida?

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Once a car goes into the water you don't have much time right? Maybe a minute?

Trick question, if they were white they wouldn't have stolen the car in the first place. Although since its Florida that's not really an accurate statement.

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No way I go in. Not in Florida.

I canoed through the Everglades a few years ago with an ex girlfriend of mine and we had this guide who could not have been older than I was at the time (21). This doofus would prod at the gators with his paddle as we watched in horror, eventually one swam under his canoe and lifted it up about 2 feet in the water then let it down. The look on his face was of sheer terror, like he knew how close he came there.

you realize there are multiple cops with guns, right?

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest