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Park Ridge police: Teen suspects charged in van theft
Updated: August 13, 2012 3:25PM
A 16-year-old Chicago boy was accused of driving a stolen vehicle through the streets of Park Ridge last week after damaging another car with a crowbar.
Park Ridge Deputy Police Chief Lou Jogmen said officers were called to a home on the 1100 block of North Northwest Highway for a report of a disturbance the morning of June 8. Jogmen said officers learned that a 16-year-old boy, accompanied by a 14-year-old boy, also of Chicago, had used a crowbar to damage a 2011 Ford Fusion parked outside the home and allegedly threw a 16-year-old girl to the ground after she attempted to restrain him. The girl and the suspect knew each other, Jogmen said.
After the crowbar was lost in the struggle with the teen girl, the boy reportedly retrieved another object from the van in which he had arrived, but that object was also seized by the girl. The boy then grabbed a baseball from the van and threw it at the Ford, Jogmen said.
After leaving the area in the van the boys were reportedly seen by police in the area of Busse Highway and Dee Road. The 16-year-old was driving the van and refused to pull over until turning on to the 700 block of Parkwood Avenue, where both teenagers jumped out of the vehicle and attempted to flee, Jogmen said. Because the van was left in drive it reportedly rolled forward several feet and struck a parked car.
The teenagers were apprehended by police, who learned that the van they had been riding in had been reported stolen in Chicago earlier that morning, Jogmen said.
The 16-year-old was charged with possession of a stolen vehicle, possession of marijuana, criminal damage to property and domestic battery. His 14-year-old companion was charged with possession of a stolen vehicle.
