TAVARES, Fla. – A juvenile boy was taken into custody Saturday morning after he broke into a Dunkin' Donuts drive-thru and stole the cash register, Tavares police said.
Police said employees at the Dunkin' Donuts on South Duncan Drive heard the drive-thru window glass break around 4:40 a.m. and saw the suspect throw something through it when they checked the restaurant's security cameras.
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Employees told officers that they saw the boy, who was wearing a red sweatshirt, climb through the window and grab the cash register before running away with it, police said.
Police said the boy then came back to the restaurant's drive-through window, which is when officers arrived at the restaurant.
The suspect saw the police vehicle and began running toward a building that was across the street, police said. Police followed him with their vehicles before getting out and chasing him on foot, officers said. The boy continued running and officers lost sight of him at the intersection of Mansfield Road and Pineway Avenue, police said.
Another officer saw the suspect near the intersection and began pursuing him, officers said. The officer saw the suspect jumping over a fence behind a nearby home on Maplewood Street that police said was abandoned and stunned him with a Taser, causing him to fall over the fence, according to police.
Police said they went to the front door of the home and ordered the suspect to come out, but he didn't.
The officers then went inside and found the suspect lying on a mattress, with the red sweatshirt near his feet, police said. Officers said the suspect was breathing heavily and sweating profusely. Police said he also had cuts on his legs that were bleeding. The suspect told police that he had been home all night and couldn't tell them why he was bleeding or sweating, police said.
The suspect was taken into custody and was taken to a nearby hospital for his injuries, police said.
Officers collected the sweatshirt and the boy's shoes for evidence. A Taser probe was found on the sweatshirt and a kitchen knife was found inside the pocket, police said.
Police said they found the cash register, which had no cash inside, at a nearby intersection.