7 teens injured while evading police

Seven teenagers were injured, two of them critically, in a Tuesday morning car crash on the outskirts of Alachua.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), the crash occurred just after 4 a.m. on County Road 235, which runs in a southeastern direction from Alachua down to Newberry. A City of Alachua Police officer was trying for a second time to stop the vehicle when the driver, a 17-year-old female from Jacksonville, lost control about 1,000 feet south of NW 164 Terrace. 

“Once control was lost, the vehicle spun off the roadway onto the west grass shoulder, where the left rear struck a tree,” FHP reported. 

First responders transported all seven occupants to UF Health Shands in Gainesville. They included a 13-year-old female, a 14-year-old female and two 17-year-old females from Gainesville, plus 14-year-old and 15-year-old males from Alachua. 

The 14-year-old female and the 15-year-old male were both listed in critical condition. FHP listed the other five teens in serious condition. 

FHP reported that the driver was not wearing a seatbelt, while the seatbelt status of the other six occupants was unknown. However, the 2000 Mercury Grand Marquis sedan they occupied only had six seats.