A 14-year-old boy from Burien was arrested last week after leading Kent Police on a brief pursuit in a stolen vehicle with two 12-year-old girls as passengers.
Police said that just after 9:30 p.m. on Kent’s East Hill, Officer Jones was on routine patrol when alerted to a nearby stolen black Hyundai Elantra, reported taken out of Auburn. The officer located the vehicle on 116th Avenue SE and attempted a traffic stop while other officers moved into position to deploy spike strips.
Instead of stopping, the teen driver continued driving erratically for several minutes. At one point, the vehicle nearly collided with Officer Meade’s patrol car in a residential neighborhood. Shortly after, the car’s front tire began to smoke heavily, prompting the suspect to pull over and surrender.
The 14-year-old told police he noticed the brakes were failing and decided to stop. He was booked into the King County Juvenile Detention Center for possession of a stolen vehicle and attempting to elude police.
During the arrest, the teen reportedly asked officers why they continued pursuing him after he failed to stop, appearing surprised or annoyed. “Kent Officers don’t just give up,” a police spokesperson said.
Two 12-year-old girls were also in the vehicle, one from Kent and the other from Auburn. Both were released to family members.
“Hopefully this is a big wake-up call for the suspect, his passengers, and their families,” Kent Police said in a statement.
More teens getting away with crimes, because they aren’t getting strong punishment to deter them. A slap on the wrist does nothing.
Here is a prime example of the (Soft on Crime) fallout that has enabled law breakers to fear no punishment, thankfully the State has reinstalled the pursuit policies so justice can be served.
Police pursuits are dangerous and deadly. This is not a matter of being soft on crime– this is a matter of being in touch with reality.
In this instance, we are very lucky that the children involved did not die. We are very lucky some innocent bystanders did not die. The police put everyone’s safety and life in jeopardy, all in the name of a “wake up call.” Lame.
It doesn’t sound to me like you have any idea what you are talking about. Have you ever been involved in a police pursuit? Have you ever had a spike strip deployed against you? Have you ever had a police car collide into you violently? You have absolutely no idea how dangerous police pursuits are to all involved as well as the innocent public at large.
I have been in a police pursuit, with the Burien PD. They tried to stop me with a spike strip– but I’m not dumb, I evaded that. They collided into my vehicle via a PIT maneuver– again, not dumb, I just performed a flawless 180. They stopped chasing me when I hit 509 going 140+ mph. The chase began because the cops botched an attempted controlled stop. They spent hours planning my capture only to be shown what idiots they are. I got away safely. Why do I call the cops chasing me idiots? Because they lost an assault rifle during the chase. How stupid do you need to be to lose a lethal police issue assault rifle during a pre-planned controlled stop? And that’s what makes police pursuits so dangerous, because cops are dumb: they behave recklessly and make tragic mistakes.
We shouldn’t be putting people’s lives at stake just because some idiot cops want to play Big Boy and hype themselves up for the thrill of a chase. Unless someone is kidnapped or there is real danger to the community, there should be no chase. Chases are dangerous for all.
Please stay in your lane and talk about things you have actual experience in. The world doesn’t need your rubbish opinions on things you don’t understand.
Wow just wow. You openly admit the Police made an effort to stop and detain you for obvious reasons, yet you don’t realize or acknowledge your own reckless fleeing caused the pursuit. Instead of bragging about your driving skills you should come up with an honest realization that you are the problem here.
I remember back in the late 90’s when i was in high school . This type stuff was going on but it just did not make the news that often .
When I was a 12 year old girl my parents knew where I was every minute of the day. And if they found out they didn’t know because I was being deceptive, I don’t know I would have lived through that. And I’m not talking physical punishment. I’d probably still be grounded, without a phone and doing extra chores.