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Tampa police scour neighborhood for car theft suspects; one arrested after brief chase

 
Published June 16, 2014

TAMPA — An overnight search for two auto theft suspects enveloped a Tampa neighborhood and ended early Monday with the arrest of one man.

Donald Robert Welch, 29, faces charges of grand theft auto, burglary, and fleeing the police following the early morning pursuit.

Welch and another man were spotted before 3 a.m. riding in a car reported stolen from Tampa International Airport, police said. Officers attempted to stop the car in the area of N 43rd Street and E Powhatan Avenue. The car sped off and a chase ensued.

A short time later, the men stopped and ran from the car, police said. Welch was picked up in the area of N 36th Street and E Clifton Avenue.

Police used tracking dogs and helicopters to search the neighborhood for the second man, but were unable to find him.

Welch was booked in the Hillsborough County Jail and held without bail.