A vehicle left a gas station in St. Augustine without paying for gas. I think it was about $15. I guess that might be possible, based on fuel costs and tank sizes, if the car was maybe a Ford Torino (like in Starsky and Hutch) with it's massive 26-gallon fuel tank. Anyhow, think of it as a total fill-up gas-and-dash.
The three young men in their Ford Torino probably felt like they'd committed the perfect crime as they headed up US 1 towards Jacksonville. I'd like to think they were headed up to Jax to see Lynyrd Skynyrd perform, but that 1976 performance came a few weeks later. So they were probably just going to hang out at the Jug Saloon with good ol Linda Lou.
To their surprise, however, the gas station attendant didn't just call the local authorities and hope for the best. Nope. We'll call him Cooter. Cooter jumped in the wrecker and gave chase. Maybe Cooter told his new bride Beverly to call the authorities, because St. Augustine were also eventually in hot pursuit along Highway 1. Cooter may have used his CB to alert the authorities, and it seems he eventually dropped out of the chase. But Cooter wasn't alone, since two of the three St. Augustine Police vehicles sustained flat tires, forcing them to tap out as well.
The three young men, we'll call them Bo, Luke, and Jeb, they kept on cruising up Hwy 1 towards the I-95, reaching speeds of 120 mph. The lone remaining St. Aug officer, Rosco perhaps, was on 'em like white on rice. We learn later that Roscoe had just gotten new tires the previous day, but it seems the other St. Augustine patrol cars were also in need of new rubber. Now, Bo and Luke might have thought that crossing county lines would mean Roscoe would turn back, but it appears that the opposite happened, since both Florida Highway Patrol and JSO joined in the pursuit.
Somewhere in Jacksonville, Bo and Luke tried to exit the freeway, probably to avoid getting in line to pay the bridge till. The problem is that their Torino couldn't quite handle the exit, and they crashed before they could sneakily turn down a dirt road to watch the cops fly past. Without the toll roads, they probably would have made it to Georgia.
JSO grabbed Bo while FHP took Luke, but somehow Jeb got away (and he's still running today). Presumably, Roscoe was not on him like white on rice. No doubt, the two rascals were turned over to Roscoe to face the judge in St. Augustine, and no doubt they escaped later that day with the help of their cousin Daisy and Uncle Jesse.
The moral of the story for the rest of us? Toll roads slow you down. Getting out of one county won't really save you from arrest. Don't skimp on tires. Misdemeanor theft probably warrants a 120mph chase by three police forces. Watch out if Cooter gets overstimulated.
