Stolen car chase hits 120 mph, ends at Spring Hill school

A stolen silver Hyundai that reached more than 120 mph ended before dawn on the grounds of Saint Theresa Catholic School in Spring Hill, after a chase that put drivers, neighborhoods and a school campus within reach of a reckless 17-year-old.

Florida Highway Patrol said a trooper first spotted the car on U.S. 19 traveling 112 mph in a 45 mph zone. The driver then ran a red light near Regency Park Boulevard and kept going northbound at more than 120 mph, nearly striking other vehicles as the pursuit moved through Hernando County. Near Caribbean Drive, the teen tried to make a U-turn, ran off the roadway onto a grass shoulder and fled on foot.

Hernando County sheriff’s deputies later found the teen on Saint Theresa Catholic School property around 3:05 a.m. Monday, May 12, 2026. A separate report said the Hyundai had been stolen from the registered owner’s residence, and that the teenager was carrying his shirt and stopping to pick up his pants while running. The arrest ended a chase that had already crossed a major commercial corridor and landed in a place where local parents expect safety, not police searches.

The location underscored how quickly a roadway pursuit can become a school security concern in Spring Hill. Saint Theresa Catholic Church lists its address at 1107 Commercial Way, just off the same U.S. 19 corridor where the chase began, and Nantucket Cove Apartments sits at 400 Cape Cod Loop nearby. Hernando County School District serves about 23,000 students, a reminder of how many families can be affected when a dangerous drive spills onto school property.

The case also fits Florida’s tougher approach to extreme speeding. The state’s dangerous excessive speeding law covers drivers going 50 mph or more over the limit, or driving 100 mph or more in a dangerous manner, and a second or subsequent conviction within five years can lead to at least 180 days of driver’s-license revocation. Florida Highway Patrol says pursuits should be started, continued or ended only after a reasonable safety-based determination, a standard that puts public risk at the center of every chase.