COLUMBUS, Ohio — Two teenage boys crashed what police believe is a stolen vehicle in southeast Columbus Wednesday night.
According to Columbus Police Sgt. Joe Albert, officers in the Hilltop neighborhood noticed two vehicles driving very closely to each other in the area of West Broad Street and South Terrace Avenue around 8:37 p.m.
Albert said officers immediately knew one of the vehicles, a Kia Forte, was confirmed as stolen. The other vehicle, a Ford Focus, is believed to have been stolen, but it has out-of-state license plates and police need to find the owners of it to make sure it is stolen.
As officers attempted to pull them over, the two vehicles took off at a high rate of speed. The officers did not pursue them, but Albert said a police helicopter flew overhead and kept track of them. In addition, Albert said officers were always nearby but never pursued them.
Albert said officers deployed stop sticks around West Broad and Starling streets and although the sticks hit both vehicles, the drivers did not stop. They continued to drive throughout downtown, German Village, the south side and the near east side for the next 15 minutes.
Around 8:52 p.m. both vehicles turned into Buckeye Middle School on Parsons Avenue and into the fields near the school. The Kia was parked while someone continued to drive the Ford away from the school. Officers arrived at the school and found the Kia. The officers also found another stolen vehicle that was parked in the field.
The helicopter continued to follow the Ford as it was being driven throughout Parsons Avenue and other surrounding streets, reportedly running red lights and going left of center into oncoming traffic.
Around 9:18 p.m., the authorities in the helicopter aired that the car was involved in a crash at Linwood and Reinhard avenues. Albert said officers quickly went to the crash and took two 17-year-old boys into custody. The driver of the Ford was taken to Grant Medical Center and his condition is described as stable. The other teen was reportedly not injured.
The two occupants in the other vehicle were not injured.
Albert said officers will be charging the teens with felony fleeing and additional charges may be filed once the investigation is complete.
A neighbor who lives near the crash site saw the car overturn across the street in their neighbor’s yard.
“It's very concerning," they said.
People in the area believe it’ll take a group effort from families, schools and law enforcement to stop this troubling trend.
“What are you going to do? How can we come together and prevent these things from happening? We need more signs in the neighborhood that says this is a block watch," the neighbor added.