16-Year-Old Driver Wrecks 3 Police Cars In Phillips County
(CBS4) - A Fort Collins teenager was arrested on nine charges Sunday in Nebraska after allegedly assaulting his stepfather and stealing the man's car. It was the beginning of a multi-county police pursuit across northeastern Colorado and into Nebraska.
The unidentified 16-year-old picked up his girlfriend, also 16, in Timnath, as the pair fled eastward.
Phillips County Sheriff Tom Elliott told CBS4 that his force attempted a "rolling box" maneuver to contain the stolen car, but the juvenile driver veered out of a ditch and struck three of the department's vehicles at once. One of those vehicles was totaled, Elliott said.
Phillips County's sheriff's office only has four vehicles.
The juvenile male drove into Nebraska on Highway 6 through Imperial and Wauneta, at times with six police vehicles in pursuit, according to the appropriately named Chase County (Nebraska) Sheriff's Office.
The juvenile continued to evade police attempts to disable his vehicle, at times reaching 130 mph. Until, that is, his vehicle broke down.
The stolen car, a black 2019 Subaru, allegedly vaulted railroad tracks outside Wauneta in what Elliott described as a "Dukes of Hazard" move. The damage resulting from the leap, in addition to that sustained in the collision with the Phillips County cars, eventually led to the stolen car's expiration.
No other police vehicles were damaged, aside from Phillips County's.
"Figures," Elliott said sarcastically.
One Phillips County deputy was treated and released from a hospital.
The juvenile male was also treated and released -- into police custody. He was arrested on felony charges of Eluding and Assault on a Peace Officer (four counts), plus misdemeanor Reckless Endangerment and Reckless Driving.
The juvenile female was returned to her parents.
