Naked teenagers lead police on high-speed chase before threatening officer with pink and purple baseball bat

Trio were approached while applying suntan lotion at a rest stop on a Florida motorway

Three teenagers who were approached by police while standing naked on a Florida motorway led officers on a 21-mile, high-speed chase before crashing their vehicle and threatening their pursuers with a pink and purple baseball bat, reports say.

The trio were applying suntan lotion in the nude at a rest stop on the state’s the Interstate 75 when authorities were alerted to them.

But as officers attempted to take their details, the three fled in their Nissan Sentra, Florida Highway Patrol said in a statement reported by the Tampa Bay Times.

The resulting chase only ended when police deployed a so-called stop stick, which deflated the vehicle’s tyres and caused it to crash.

Even then, the women refused to leave the motor, linking arms, the FHP added.

They were later identified as driver Oasis Mcleod, 18, along with Jeniyah Mcleod and Cecilia Young, both 19.

“I attempted to initiate a traffic stop on the vehicle,” one officer is quoted as saying. “As soon as I did so, the vehicle increased its rate of speed, and then the driver entered the oncoming lane of traffic.

“This erratic manoeuvring caused multiple vehicles to take evasive action and travel onto the westbound grass shoulder of State Road 52, in order to avoid a collision.”

The statement added that both an officer and a member of the public had almost been hit during the chase on Wednesday.

At one point, officers called off the pursuit because it was so dangerous. But when the three suspects stopped their vehicle – which had been tagged with a GPS tracker – and nearby officers approached again, the troopers were threatened with a baseball bat before the trio drove off once more.

The stop stick was deployed shortly after as the car entered a school zone near Dade City.

Police later found marijuana in the vehicle and Mcleod was charged with driving under the influence after failing a field sobriety test.

The three suspects have also been charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest, fleeing to elude and indecent exposure.