Saline teen arrested after leading police on high-speed chase through country roads
Police say a 16-year-old boy took his father’s truck without permission, picked up his girlfriend and a friend before leading police on a chase down unpaved, snow-covered roads early Friday, eventually crashing into a drainage ditch.
After the chase, the 16-year-old driver was arrested and faces charges of fleeing and eluding a police officer, operating with a restricted license and having an expired or improper registration.
Courtesy photo
According to a Saline police report, police noticed the white Dodge Ram driving without a light over the rear license plate at 2:29 a.m. Friday near Ann Arbor Street and West Michigan Avenue.
Police started to follow the truck as it turned onto Davenport Street and then Henry Street, where police turned on their lights to get the driver to stop.
The 16-year-old driver slowed and then accelerated on Henry Street and the police gave chase. The driver ran two stop signs on Henry Street before ignoring a third and turning onto Monroe.
Police followed the truck down Monroe as it turned into Macon Road, according to the report. While on Macon, the truck reached speeds of 70 miles per hour, eventually turning onto Jordan Road, where the driver reached speeds of 90 miles per hour.
The chase continued down Willow Road, which is a dirt road that had not been plowed. Police slowed to a safer speed, about 40 miles per hour, and kept the truck in their sights, often only seeing taillights, according to the report.
The officers in pursuit of the Ram called a second car in for assistance, which observed the truck turn into a field off Jordan Road north of Braun Road. Officers saw the truck stop near the tree line in the field and turn off its lights for a short period of time. The Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office also assisted in the pursuit.
Officers got out of their vehicles and started to approach the truck on foot before noticing brake lights come on. The truck then began driving out of the field and headed north on Macon Road before turning west on Johnson Road.
As the truck headed on Johnson Road, it approached the service drive for a cell tower. Instead of turning left or right at the preceding intersection, the 16-year-old drove down the service drive and ended up crashing into a drainage ditch.
A 13-year-old girl and a 15-year-old girl immediately ran out of the truck toward police and the 16-year-old boy eventually got out and walked toward police with his hands raised. The report stated the three teens were taken into custody.
The girls told police the boy picked them up, took them for a drive and was heading home when the police attempted to stop them. Despite their urgings to pull over, the boy said he could get away and began the chase, according to the report.
Lupi said it would have been easier for the boy to just pull over instead of fleeing and ending up under arrest.
“Due to his age, I’m sure he’ll be facing consequences from his parents, as well as the court system,” he said.
Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
mady
Wed, Jan 2, 2013 : 3:14 p.m.
@actionjackson, actually I have 3 daughters. They are, Rebecca(35), Rachel(33), and Mary(30) and when they were teenagers they knew better than to pull a stunt such as this one....they might well still be grounded.....
Concerned Neighbor
Sun, Dec 30, 2012 : 5:04 a.m.
Does anyone remember how Tim McVey was captured? The Oaklahoma city bomber. He was pulled over by an alert police officer because he had a broken tail light. Good job SPD!
Joseph Kennedy
Sat, Dec 29, 2012 : 6:43 p.m.
I'm hoping a Dukes of Hazzard style Dixie horn was standard equipment for the chase. Sounds like the Saline PD was busy last night!
mady
Sat, Dec 29, 2012 : 6:18 p.m.
ooooh buddy boy, you are luckier than you deserve to be that I Am Not Your Mother. I would make your life a living you-know-what. I would know your whereabouts 24/7. after school, you would come directly home and do your homework. I would be waiting outside the classroom to escort you home with all the embarrassment that accompanies this. after dinner(dessert? are you kidding me?!) you would clear the table, wash and dry the dishes, and put them away while I lounge on the sofa watching the nightly news, remote in one hand, cup of tea in the other. weekends? housework, any outside work that needs doing(shoveling snow, etc.). no internet. no cell phone. extremely limited hanging-out-with-friends, in the house, under my direct supervision. Like I said, you are Extremely Lucky That I Am Not Your Mother.........
cinnabar7071
Sun, Dec 30, 2012 : 1:53 a.m.
Mom, is that you?
actionjackson
Sun, Dec 30, 2012 : 1:37 a.m.
Mady, Have you got any kids that age?
music to my ear
Sat, Dec 29, 2012 : 6:05 p.m.
did you read that the police slowed down to 40 mi per hr.
Paul
Sun, Dec 30, 2012 : 4:01 a.m.
And you believe it, lol
justcurious
Sat, Dec 29, 2012 : 5:32 p.m.
I would not want to die or have anyone die because someone's license plate light was out. What a thing to tell the family of the deceased. "Your daddy was killed honey because a 16 year old kid sisn't have his license plate lit". Sorry, no excuse for endangering the rest of us.
Paul
Sun, Dec 30, 2012 : 4 a.m.
If the police say they slowed down to 40-that means they went under 70, lol Bottom line nobody got hurt-case close. Close only counts playing horseshoes.
Johnson48racing
Sun, Dec 30, 2012 : 12:07 a.m.
"sisn't have his license plate lit" WOW!
Brad
Sat, Dec 29, 2012 : 3:52 p.m.
What would Rich Kinsey have done? http://www.annarbor.com/news/crime/police-pursuits/
Piledriver
Sat, Dec 29, 2012 : 2:38 p.m.
.....ah, the youth of Saline, back at it again.
Mark
Sat, Dec 29, 2012 : 1:58 p.m.
If only the truck had been parked on a street in Ann Arbor, this would not have happened, since it would have been towed away for having expired plates.
Borbsi
Sat, Dec 29, 2012 : 2:25 a.m.
Arrghhh, the license plate light!
Belisa
Sat, Dec 29, 2012 : 1:21 a.m.
the golden age of out-running the cops is looong gone ... those were the days :)
Paul
Sun, Dec 30, 2012 : 3:58 a.m.
Remember when it was only a 1 year misdemeanor if the fleeing driver did not hit anything. Today some cop 5 miles away responding to the call can crash his cop car and the law can say its the fleeing drivers fault- what a joke. Meanwhile assault weapons are now A OK to sell to many folks. I'm all for making the world a safer place-too bad it isn't.
PineyWoodsGuy
Sat, Dec 29, 2012 : 12:50 a.m.
The Judge should order a full psychiatric work-up on the driver. Not saying he is psychotic; just saying it should be looked into. His behavior went miles beyond what even the most "wild" teenboy would do. With a Court Order the Saline PD could whisk him over to the State Dept of Mental Health facility in York Twp. Sure, it is an adult facility, but an officer could sit outside the examining room . . . it would only take an hour. It would be reasonable and prudent for the Judge to so order. http://www.michigan.gov/mdch/0,1607,7-132-2941_4868_4896-14465--,00.html
arborani
Fri, Dec 28, 2012 : 11:27 p.m.
Lots of "funny" (?) comments here on a situation where, it seems, the police officers did everything just about right. Good on 'em.
RJA
Fri, Dec 28, 2012 : 11:09 p.m.
OMG, 13-15 and 16 ???? Great job Saline and Washtenaw Officers. (2:29 a.m. yet)
actionjackson
Fri, Dec 28, 2012 : 10:51 p.m.
This kid must not have been part of the survey of "best city to raise a child."
actionjackson
Sun, Dec 30, 2012 : 1:33 a.m.
I think he was misbehaving in order to skew the survey results for being the "best city to raise a child." "I'll show you"
ArthGuinness
Sat, Dec 29, 2012 : 4:03 a.m.
Um, so I take it you do one of the following: 1) Stay awake all night to constantly make sure your kid is in bed, or 2) Lock your kid up so he/she cannot physically leave.
PineyWoodsGuy
Sat, Dec 29, 2012 : 12:53 a.m.
2:30AM on snow covered roads. Did the parents of the 3 teens phone PD? Is there a record of the parents making a report . . . let's say, after Midnight? Or is Saline such a great city to raise children that it did not occur to the parents to notify the police?There needs to be lots of follow-up journalism on this story!
ms 2013
Fri, Dec 28, 2012 : 10:51 p.m.
they should have brought them to me i would have beat the breakes off of them
A2James
Fri, Dec 28, 2012 : 11:39 p.m.
Yup, I'm sure beating the "breakes" off of someone else's kids, for nothing that concerns you, would help the situation...
quetzalcoatl
Fri, Dec 28, 2012 : 10:43 p.m.
A truck with an expired plate owned by a man with a 16-year old son still on an age-restricted license. Bet this was the truck the kid would have gotten when he came of legal age. If that's true, this is teenage tragedy of the most ironic sort.
djacks24
Fri, Dec 28, 2012 : 10:19 p.m.
He must've been absent when the outrunning the cops section was gone over in driver's ed class?
Paul
Sun, Dec 30, 2012 : 3:53 a.m.
They don't teach you how to flee from the police in drivers ed, lol
Brad
Fri, Dec 28, 2012 : 10:14 p.m.
Is it considered standard procedure to engage in a high-speed pursuit on bad roads over something like this?
MJSteklac
Sat, Dec 29, 2012 : 1:29 a.m.
Factors taken into consideration are nature of the offense, time of day, traffic conditions, type of road (highway or local street), weather conditions, and road condition (gravel, paved, potholes, etc.)
Brad
Fri, Dec 28, 2012 : 11:10 p.m.
Sorry, I should have been a little more clear. Is there anyone with any *actual knowledge* of this that would care to comment? Many jurisdictions have already adopted official policies on high-speed chases because it is extremely dangerous to all involved and potentially bystanders as well. Kyle per the headline: "leading police on high-speed chase through country roads". That sure seems to say that they were part of that chase.
Unusual Suspect
Fri, Dec 28, 2012 : 11:02 p.m.
Yeah, it's best to have a policy that any law-breaker can get away with any crime as long as he drives fast afterwards.
cinnabar7071
Fri, Dec 28, 2012 : 10:32 p.m.
I don't know Brad, but is it standard procedure to take police on a high speed pursuit over something like this?
Kyle Mattson
Fri, Dec 28, 2012 : 10:20 p.m.
Hi Brad per the story: "Police slowed to a safer speed, about 40 miles per hour, and kept the truck in their sights" It sounds like officials did acknowledge the conditions of the road and took measure to ensure safety on the road while also keeping pursuit. I'm no cop, but I would assume that these are one of those tough decisions where there appears to be reason for pursuit but doing so comes with risk. It's good to hear that there were no injuries or accident as a result of this incident.
average joe
Fri, Dec 28, 2012 : 10:08 p.m.
It's 2:29am. Do you know where your teenager (& pickup) are?
An Arborigine
Fri, Dec 28, 2012 : 10:05 p.m.
Clearly a future Rhodes Scholar.
M
Fri, Dec 28, 2012 : 10:50 p.m.
More like a Roads scholar, amirite? *avoids rotten tomatoes*
Joel A. Levitt
Fri, Dec 28, 2012 : 9:52 p.m.
Road blocks are more expensive, but high speed chases are more likely to kill someone than to prevent it.
music to my ear
Sat, Dec 29, 2012 : 6:07 p.m.
did you read it said police slowed down to 40 mi per hr. to be safety.
justcurious
Sat, Dec 29, 2012 : 3:02 a.m.
Joel, I could not agree more. They are all lucky that no one died.