SAVANNAH, GA (September 13, 2011): Three juveniles are being questioned about a burglary after the pickup truck one was driving crashed into two cars and a work truck, injuring all three other drivers Tuesday afternoon.
Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Island Precinct officers were observing the bluish green, Dodge pickup truck when the 16-year-old driver noticed two marked police cars in the area and sped away.
The truck sped west on Delesseps Avenue toward Waters Avenue where it swerved onto the grassy lawn of O’reilly Auto Parts to avoid backed up traffic, struck a hedge and swerved back into the street to wedge itself between two cars and a utility pole. The collision caused one of the cars to strike the stake-body truck stopped in front of it.
Drivers of both cars were transported to different hospitals with non-life threatening injuries. The driver of the stake-body truck from South Carolina complained of injuries but was not transported.
The three occupants of the pickup fled on foot. Pursuing officers were able to catch the driver and 15- and 12-year-old accomplices. A pistol and a small amount of illegal drugs were found in the pickup.
Two officers received minor injuries in the foot chase. They did not require treatment at the scene.
The driver of the truck has been charged with driving on a suspended license, no license on person, leaving the scene of an accident with injuries, felony fleeing to elude,driving too fast for conditions, reckless driving, failure to maintain lane, improper transfer (of tag), no registration, two felony counts of obstruction of an officer and two misdemeanor counts of osbtruction of an officer. Additional charges could be added against him or the other juveniles as Islands Precinct detectives probe the burglary report and the ownership of the pickup truck which bore the license plate of a different vehicle.
Officers had observed the pickup driving through neighborhoods near Skidaway Drive after the burglary report and backup units were saturating the area when the truck sped off through a parking lot and onto Delesseps.
Earlier, a witness had reported seeing a truck of that description in the lane behind a house in the 1400 block of East 53rd Street just before 3 p.m. and seeing the driver get out, kick in the back door and enter. Police found the house ransacked but had not determined if anything had been taken.
Islands Precinct detectives were questioning the three juveniles Tuesday evening as they continued their investigation.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to call Crimestoppers at (912) 234-2020 or text CRIMES (274637). In the body type, include “CStop2020” plus the tip. Tipsters remain anonymous and may qualify for a cash reward.
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