PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office says a man is facing 31 charges after leading them on a chase in multiple stolen vehicles.
It started Sunday around 4:13 p.m. when deputies responded to reports of two men fighting at the Dunedin Cove Motel located at 1220 Main St., according to a Pinellas County Sheriff's Office news release. When they arrived, deputies say they learned 27-year-old Kenneth Lunford got into a fight with another man following a drug deal.
Lunford then took the man's keys and drove away in the stolen car, according to the sheriff's office.
Investigators say Lunford drove recklessly through Clearwater, Largo, Belleair Bluffs, Belleair Beach and Indian Rocks Beach, fleeing from multiple Clearwater Police Officers who attempted to stop him.
While he was on Gulf Boulevard, the sheriff's office says Lunford attempted to carjack someone at a stoplight but was unsuccessful. That's when, according to deputies, he kept driving and hit two other cars.
Investigators say Lunford then carjacked another vehicle and continued southbound on Gulf Boulevard. He drove that car into an Indian Shores parking lot where he hit another car, crashed into a fence and partially off the seawall, according to the sheriff's office.
Deputies say Lunford got out of the car and led them through the mangroves and into the intercoastal waterway. Around 4:55 p.m., marine unit deputies arrested Lunford and transported him to the Pinellas County Jail.
He is facing 31 charges from both the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office and the Clearwater Police Department, including carjacking, driving under the influence with property damage, robbery by sudden snatching, resisting an officer, and fleeing and eluding.
No significant injuries were reported. The investigation is ongoing.