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11-year-old driver allegedly leads police on I-70 pursuit
Staff writer
chriscam@observer-reporter.com
An 11-year-old boy allegedly stole a car from his foster mother Sunday night, leading police on a high-speed pursuit and striking a state police cruiser. The chase ended when the stolen vehicle slammed into a utility pole on Route 519 near the Eighty Four interchange of Interstate 70.
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Township police said his foster mother notified police immediately when she realized he was missing. Police said the boy took the car keys and his backpack from the house. They issued a bulletin for area departments to be on the alert for the boy driving a 1989 white Toyota station wagon.
According to township Patrolman Keith Hutter, the boy was spotted by another motorist traveling north on Route 19 about 7:15 p.m.
The boy had been placed in the foster home Wednesday. He was believed to have been driving toward the Cokeburg area.
Hutter said police concentrated their search efforts along Route 519, thinking perhaps he would abandon the vehicle. They also feared the boy may have had an accident or driven off the windy road.
State police Trooper Brian Bell later spotted the car being driven by the boy on Route 917 in Bentleyville. Bell turned his cruiser around and followed the boy, attempting to get him to stop the vehicle, but he refused. The boy then drove onto I-70 at the Ginger Hill interchange and headed westbound.
Bell said, at times, the boy drove as fast as 80 to 85 miles per hour and the vehicle was swerving back and forth over the road.
At one point, he exited the highway at the Kammerer interchange, crossed over the highway and got back onto the interstate heading eastbound. He did the same thing at the Dunningsville interchange, narrowly missing a vehicle that was headed south on Brownlee Road.
At the Eighty Four interchange, troopers Mark Kern and Jeffrey D'Allesandro were in a cruiser waiting to stop the boy in case he exited the highway. The boy's vehicle came off the ramp, struck the police car and turned south onto Route 519. At this point, Bell, who was still following the boy, performed a pit maneuver with his cruiser, causing the boy to lose control of the station wagon. The vehicle swerved and struck a utility pole, slicing it in half.
Employees of a nearby convenience store did not witness the accident but said they heard the crash.
The young driver suffered a nonlife-threatening head injury.
No further details on his condition or on what charges he will face were available at presstime.
Police chase : 9/22/2008
First I want to thank the police, but we need to come up with a less leathal way of stoping non leathal offenders.
