Chase of stolen van driven by teen ends in crash

**kellyhound** · #1 06-22-2008, 12:24 PM

13-06-2008 JEFFERSON COUNTY
A 15-year-old driving a stolen van led Jefferson County Sheriff's deputies on a chase that forced one car off the road and ended when the van crashed into an SUV.

The driver of the SUV and the teen suffered minor injuries in the crash, said Jefferson County Sheriff Glenn Boyer.

"We are still trying to sort it all out as we continue to investigate," Boyer said.

What police do know is the chase got started about 5 a.m. after someone called police about a suspicious van in the area of the Shangri La Apartments near Highway 21 in Jefferson County.

A deputy pulled up to the gray van and took down the license plate number. As the cruiser got close to the van, the driver ducked down in the seat, Boyer said. The deputy turned his cruiser around. Then the van began to drive fast toward the cruiser, Boyer said.

"The officer was able to avoid the accident and a pursuit began," Boyer said.

By that time, the deputy had learned that the van had been stolen out of north St. Louis, Boyer said.

The deputy chased the van north on Highway 21. Then, the van turned around and the deputy chased the van south on Highway 21. The van turned around again, Boyer said, and drove back north on Highway 21.

Several other deputy cruisers were called in to assist in the chase, Boyer said, who called it a "lengthy pursuit." One car was forced off the road as the van passed by, he said.

Just as the van was about to leave Jefferson County and was approaching the Meramec River bridge, the van crashed into the SUV, causing it to flip over, Boyer said. The crash disabled the van and brought the chase to an abrupt halt, he said.

"The van couldn't move any more," Boyer said. "And the officer was so close that he (the teen suspect) didn't have a chance to exit the vehicle."

The teen was arrested and taken to the county's juvenile facility pending warrants.

What the teen will be charged is yet to be known.

"We're still sorting out the rest of the pursuit," Boyer said. "We'll be able to sort it all out as we continue to investigate."

Boyer said he was not releasing the name of the teen or the SUV driver.

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Jefferson County sheriff's deputies said a 15-year-old boy was driving a stolen van.

That van ended up causing a SUV to overturn.

Police said the boy and three juvenile girls all walked away from a drug rehab center Thursday night and took the van.

Deputies said they found the girls in the neighborhood where the chase started.