JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Monday morning 16-year-old Zachary Lambert entered a not guilty plea in front of Judge Boyer of Duval County.
Lambert faces charges of vehicular homicide, third degree murder, fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer and grand theft auto. All three are felonies. Lambert entered not guilty pleas for all three charges.
November 24, 2011, Lambert was allegedly involved in a fatal crash near the intersection of San Pablo Road and Beach Blvd after a high-speed pursuit involving the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. The crash happened close to 3 a.m. and left 22-year-old Christopher Thompson dead.
According to JSO policy, the decision to pursue another vehicle is dependent on 15 factors. The age and driving ability of the driver, volume of traffic, time of day, and weather conditions are among the variables officers consider.
Lambert, according to his attorney Jesse Dreicer, is in the foster care system. "He's had a rough time of it growing up because of the different homes he's been placed in, all the different adversities he's had to face. Zachary has ended up like any teenager going through hard times and ending up having to answer to some charges," said Dreicer.
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office has confirmed the juvenile has already been arrested on felony charges several times, including February, March and August of this year.
JSO released the reports from Lambert's three felony arrests this year. In each case, Lambert was 15 years old.
The first incident occurred on Feb. 1 at his home in Arlington. Lambert was accused of grabbing a knife and threatening to kill himself.
The police report indicates his foster brother of the past two weeks told Lambert to drop the knife, but instead Lambert ran outside, turned and threw the knife at his foster brother.
The knife missed and his foster brother was able to restrain Lambert until police arrived, according to the report. Lambert was charged with aggravated assault, a third-degree felony.
Another arrest report indicates Lambert was absent from Arlington Middle School on Feb. 11, when the ESE (exceptional student education) teacher received a voice mail indicating a bomb threat.
The transcript of the message is filled with profanity and a racial slur.
The school's principal evacuated the school and a subsequent investigation revealed no bomb.
The ESE teacher told police she recognized the voice on the message as Lambert's, and added she had been in close contact with him in recent weeks.
Another school employee told police during the investigation that Lambert confessed to leaving the threatening message, saying, "I don't have any reason to lie to you. I called in the bomb threat a couple of weeks ago."
On March 30, Lambert was arrested on a charge of making a false bomb report, a second-degree felony.
The third felony arrest from 2011 stems from an incident on Aug. 9.
Lambert's sister told police Lambert was visiting her when they got into a dispute and he began cursing and "became enraged."
Lambert reportedly waived a knife in his sister's face and said, "I'm going to kill you."
Another witness in the home told police Lambert was "being rude" to everyone in the home and threatened to kill everyone.
That witness said Lambert ran out of the house after threatening his sister with a knife. Police spoke with Lambert and arrested him on Aug. 10 on a third-degree felony charge of domestic aggravated assault.
Zachary's sister, Chelsea Lambert expressed remorse for her brother's actions Wednesday night, and said she wanted to apologize to the victim's family.
"I do want to be there for them. If the other family needs any help in any way I would like to be there for them as well. I hope Zach get's a chance to apologize to them," she said.
First Coast News