PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. -- Two teenage Kentucky lovebirds suspected in a crime wave of stolen vehicles and pilfered checks across the U.S. South have been taken into custody in Florida, authorities said Sunday.
Eighteen-year-old Dalton Hayes and his 13-year-old girlfriend, Cheyenne Phillips, were arrested without incident about 12:10 a.m. Sunday in Panama City Beach, according to authorities in both states.
The two had eluded police in multiple states while raising concern about their increasingly bold behavior.
"I spoke to Dalton and he was very scared, and he wanted to come home," said Norman Chaffins, the sheriff of Grayson County, Ky., where the teens live. "He wanted me to come bring him home."
Chaffins said the teens were getting by on some cash found in a truck stolen in Georgia.
Authorities said the U.S. Marshals Service and Panama City Beach police discovered Hayes and Cheyenne asleep in a 2001 Toyota Tundra that was stolen in Georgia. Officers surrounded the vehicle, and both Hayes and Cheyenne were taken into custody.
Chaffins said the teens should be extradited back to Kentucky by the end of the week.
In Kentucky, the two teens will face the same charges, including burglary, theft, criminal trespassing and criminal mischief, Chaffins said. Cheyenne will face charges in juvenile court because she is a minor.
According to Bay County jail records, Hayes was held Sunday on a charge of custodial interference. He was scheduled for a first court appearance at 8:30 a.m. today.
Florida's Department of Children & Families was called to assist Panama City Beach Police, but Cheyenne was not in the state's custody, said DaMonica Rivas, an agency spokesman.
"The juvenile has been taken to a safe location until arrangements with the family are made," Rivas said.
Chaffins said he was relieved the situation ended peacefully. If the couple had not been found asleep and surrounded, he said, they may have run again.
"I think me and the family and many other law enforcement agencies were not getting a good feeling about how this was going to turn out," Chaffins said.
Hayes and Cheyenne began their run from the law and their families earlier this month when they vanished from their small hometown in western Kentucky. Authorities believe their travels took them to South Carolina and Georgia.
Twice, the teens were able to evade law officers in Kentucky. They crashed the first truck they stole and hid in the woods. Then they later stole another truck nearby, Chaffins said.
A Section on 01/19/2015