KIDS STEAL SUV FOR ICE CREAM! (2009)
Police have released video they say depicts the high-speed chase and crash involving a 14-year-old Fowlerville boy who allegedly stole his father's SUV because he wanted to get ice cream.Livingston County sheriff's officials submitted their completed report to the prosecutor's office late Tuesday afternoon. They are seeking charges against the teen driver for fleeing police and operating a vehicle without a driver's license.A sheriff's deputy tried to stop a Chevy Tahoe about 10:50 p.m. Saturday near Barnard Street and Grand River Avenue in Howell after the driver made an illegal left-hand turn from the Dairy Queen to Grand River Avenue, Sheriff Bob Bezotte said.However, the driver sped off, turning left onto Barnard Street and then west onto Lake Street. The driver tried to flee by turning right onto Michigan Avenue, where he was traveling more than 70 mph and where he also illegally passed a motorist, the sheriff said.The driver "blew through" the stop signs along the way as well as the red light at the intersection of M-59, where he continued north onto Oak Grove Road, where he passed two motorists on a curve, a move that rocked the police cruiser chasing him.Eventually the teen's speed surpassed 100 mph, according to the video, but police say the teen's speed was 110 mph. The fleeing teen stopped only after crashing his father's SUV on Castlewood Drive near Monterey Court in Howell Township.Fortunately, the driver and his passengers — his 10-year-old brother and 12-year-old cousin — were not seriously injured. However, one of the passengers can be heard clearly giving up the driver as the bad guy."I got my hands up; it's not my fault," one of the passengers shouted at police. "It's all (the driver's) fault."Bezotte said the teen driver — who, ironically, can be seen on the video using his turn signals during the chase, signaling his intentions to the pursuing police officers — indicated that he took his father's SUV because he "wanted to get an ice cream." The teen said he fled because "he panicked," the sheriff added. "He didn't want to go to jail," Bezotte explained.The driver and his brother were taken to the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries. The 12-year-old cousin was released to family members.Police did not identify the driver and the other people in the vehicle because they are juveniles.