Two teens are being charged with felonies for dumping a stolen car, running away from police in a second car that police think is also stolen, and T-boning another driver Wednesday night on the South Side of the city.
Around 8:35 p.m., Columbus police Sgt. Joe Albert said that officers in the Hilltop neighborhood saw a Kia Forte and a Ford Focus that were following too closely to each other. The police told the driver that the Kia Forte was stolen, and they tried to pull it over on West Broad Street. In an instant, both the Kia and the Ford Focus took off very quickly, Albert said.
The police decided not to pursue it, but Albert said that a Columbus police chopper was keeping an eye on where they were. Albert said that the drivers of the two cars were acting recklessly as they drove around the city’s West Side and Near East Side, moving in and out of traffic and into oncoming traffic.
Albert said that at 8:52 p.m., the drivers stopped their cars in a field behind Buckeye Middle School. The Kia’s driver left the car at the school and drove off. The driver and a passenger in the Ford Focus drove off from school. Albert said that the police helicopter kept following the Focus because it was still driving dangerously.
Even though there weren’t any police cars chasing the Focus, the helicopter told them where it was and cops did try to disable it with stop sticks, he said.
For some reason, around 9:20 p.m., the driver of the Ford Focus went through a stop sign and into the crossing of Linwood and Reinhard avenues on the South Side. That’s when a black Dodge Charger hit the back of the Focus, Albert said. The hit flipped the Focus over and made it land on its side in front of a house in the 1100 block of Linwood Avenue. Its airbags went off.
Albert said that Columbus police quickly arrived at the scene and arrested the two 17-year-old men in the Ford.
Albert said that the driver of the Ford Focus was taken to OhioHealth Grant Hospital and is in safe condition. One of the other teens in the Ford Focus was caught at the scene of the crime and was not hurt. The two people in the Dodge Charger were not hurt in the accident.
Albert said he thinks the Ford Focus was stolen, but he couldn’t say for sure until late Wednesday night, when he talked to police who were working on the case.
“This is a very dangerous situation for everyone involved,” he said. “You’re talking about a (driver) that doesn’t stop for police and proceeds to drive extremely recklessly throughout our city, putting many people’s lives in danger — without the police behind you.”
