Rock 'n Roll

Teen's wild ride ends in capture

Web Posted: 03/19/2007 01:00 AM CDT

Vincent T. Davis
Express-News

A person who police say stole a cruiser Sunday night isn't old enough to vote or legally drink.

But police say she was old enough to commandeer the vehicle, leading officers on a high-speed chase down South Side streets until crashing and ending up in a wooded lot.

Her age? Sixteen.

The marked police cruiser was young, too. Its mileage? About 2,000.

A witness said she was looking in her rearview mirror when police arrived at a home on Taft Boulevard to pick up a man on a felony arrest warrant.

The witness, who didn't want to give her name, said she saw the teen outside, looking dazed and confused. The woman then saw a man dash from two police officers, who gave chase.

During the chase, one of the officers dropped his keys, said San Antonio Police Department Sgt. George Antu.

The girl looked at the car, cursed the officers, picked up the keys and jumped in the cruiser, witnesses said.

Antu said the girl sped away in an attempt to divert officers from chasing the man, who might have been her boyfriend.

The girl drove down South Zarzamora Street at 80 mph, running red lights, Antu said.

No pedestrians or motorists were hurt during the chase.

Her diversionary tactic came to an end when she lost control at Zarzamora and Fitch Street. She slammed the cruiser into a phone booth and telephone pole, leaving a scattered trail of debris as the car went airborne at Milvid Avenue, landing on its roof.

Witnesses said she crawled out of the drivers-side window and tried to escape, but officers tackled her.

"Did he get away, did he get away?" she said after police apprehended her.

Police caught and took the man on the run into custody.

"She got real lucky for being a juvenile" said Erica Garza, 28, standing behind yellow police tape at the scene. "They come up never getting hurt. The innocents are the ones who (usually) end up getting hurt."

vtdavis@express-news.net