PIERCETON – Two juveniles are on the loose after a pursuit that ended with them crashing a car into a corn field Friday.
Pierceton Police Chief Tim Sammons said dispatch received a call about two suspicious people coming in and out of Wright Stop gas station at the corner of Ind. 13 and Old 30, Pierceton.
According to dispatch, the call came in at 12:48 p.m.
Sammons said he found two female juveniles, one 14 years old and the other 15. They told him they were trying to put gas into the pickup they had driven to the gas station.
When asked who the pickup belonged to, Sammons said he was told the pickup belonged to one of the girl’s friends, but a name was not given. Sammons then checked the license plate and it came back stolen, according to the Warsaw Police Department.
Sammons said he tried to get the two girls to go back into Wright Stop to get background of how they came into possession of the stolen vehicle. Dispatch then had him take a call from an officer from WPD. The two juveniles were then able to leave the gas station store and get into the stolen pickup and went west on Old 30.
Sammons said he attempted a traffic stop, but the 15-year-old girl who was driving did not want to stop. The 14-year-old girl was the passenger in the vehicle.
The pursuit went about 20 or 25 minutes and went through a couple country roads. The vehicle crashed into a corn field on the back end of Chapman Lake.
During the chase, a county deputy did deploy stop sticks, which the juveniles went around.
The two girls then exited the vehicle and took off, where they were pursued to no avail.
According to dispatch, the pursuit stopped at 1:10 p.m.
Sammons said he knows who the two juveniles are, but would not release their names. However, he said the 14-year-old is a Wawasee student and the 15-year-old is a Warsaw student, but doesn’t know exactly which schools they attend.
The police chief said he has talked to the 14-year-old’s mother, who lives in Syracuse, and explained the police are looking for her daughter and to call them when she comes back home. He still had not heard back from the 14-year-old’s mother as of 2:45 p.m. Sunday.
Pierceton police was assisted by the Winona Lake Police Department and the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office.
Sammons said he still doesn’t know how the two girls came in possession with the stolen vehicle.
“I’m sure there’s some connection with them and the vehicle of some sort,” Sammons said.
The two girls will be charged with possession of a stolen vehicle, resisting law enforcement, auto theft and reckless driving, all felonies, Sammons said. However, the level of felonies will be determined by the prosecutor’s office.
If anyone has any information regarding this incident, contact Sammons at 574-267-5667.
