Two juveniles in a stolen car lead officers in chase that ends in a chain of crashes, police say

Two juveniles who were driving a stolen car were pulled over by Fresno police on Wednesday night, only to drive off once police officers attempted to get out of their vehicle.

That led to a brief chase in downtown Fresno and ended in a chain reaction of car crashes that was set off by the police car.

Lt. Carl McKnight said around 6:15 p.m. officers spotted a vehicle near Ventura Avenue and G Street they believed was involved in a shots fired call Tuesday night.

The officers began a routine traffic stop, but as they exited their squad car, the two suspects drove off. In addition, there were two women in the back seat.

According to McKnight who was recounting a statement from one of the women, the teen passenger turned to the teen driver and allegedly said: “Yeah, you can’t stop. This vehicle is stolen.”

The teens sped off, prompting officers to chase the suspects for a block before backing off due to a large amount of homeless people in the area.

Officers eventually saw the suspects’ vehicle turning west on Santa Clara Street getting off Van Ness Avenue and followed the vehicle when they turned into a dead end.

Police, however, were unable to stop their vehicle in time and hit the back of the suspects’ car, which then crashed its front bumper into a nearby truck.

The two juveniles, believed to be between 15 and 17 years old, were arrested.

The two women who were in the back seat are adults who claimed they had no knowledge they were riding in a stolen car.

The stolen vehicle turned out to be unrelated with the shots fired call from the previous night, police said.

The teen boys could be facing charges of possession of a stolen vehicle, auto theft, and evading the police.

This story was originally published July 25, 2018 at 10:09 PM.