A 12-year-old boy traveled almost 160 miles on a daring road trip in his grandfather’s stolen car before cops tracked him down.
The 12-year-old is alleged to have stolen a car the day before Thanksgiving.
Police in Issaquah, near Seattle, alerted the Grant County Sheriff’s Office about the missing Volkswagen hatchback which was only stopped hours later when the boy was finally apprehended in Grant County, Washington.
‘For a 12-year-old to take a vehicle, and take it that far, we’re happy we were able to stop him before he hurt himself or hurt somebody else,’ said Kyle Foreman, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office said to USA Today.
The boy is believed to have ties to Moses Lake, was thought to be heading there.
To make the journey, he had to navigate Interstate 90, cross Snoqualmie Pass at an elevation of 3,000 feet, and deal with near-freezing temperatures, not to mention busy pre-Thanksgiving traffic.
The National Weather Service had been reporting snow accumulation in the area, only adding to the dangerous nature of the route being taken by the young driver.
Deputies located the vehicle just after 10am parked on Lowry Street in the Larson Community, a residential area near the former Larson Air Force Base.
A schoolboy led deputies in Washington State on high-stakes car chase of almost 160 miles before he was finally taken into custody. Pictures, Interstate 90 through Snoqualmie Pass (Washington). The central mountain is Snoqualmie Peak.
As deputies approached, the boy sped off, leading police on a brief but tense pursuit through residential streets.
The chase ended near Randolph Road and State Route 17, in a more open area near the Grant County airport, when deputies executed a PIT maneuver, safely immobilizing the vehicle.
The PIT maneuver is a police tactic where a pursuing police vehicle intentionally causes a fleeing car to spin out and stop safely.
‘The area is marked by curved streets, so the boy didn’t get a lot of speed,’ Foreman explained. ‘When the road opened up, deputies acted quickly to prevent any further danger.’
The boy was unharmed in the maneuver and taken into custody without incident.
He was booked into the Chelan County Juvenile Justice Center on charges of possession of a stolen vehicle and felony eluding.
‘It’s remarkable that this situation didn’t end in tragedy. The quick actions of law enforcement ensured the safety of the boy and the community,’ Foreman said.
