Weird Crime: 12-year-old Leads Charleston Police on High Speed Chase

Goose Creek, South Carolina

On March 14, 2013, police were called to a Walmart parking lot on a report of a hit-and-run. What they ended up doing, however, was chasing an angry 12-year-old boy in a stolen SUV on the interstate during rush hour traffic.

Embedded below is a dash cam recording of the incident. Due to the fact that it's a little over 13 minutes long (and that the child behind the wheel is a better driver than most adults in the Charleston area), the video gets a little boring at times. I've highlighted the really cool/important parts below.

0:12- There he is! A Mercury SUV matching the description given by witnesses is spotted by the police, who then begin their pursuit.

1:30- Like most motorists in the Charleston area, the driver seems completely infatuated with the left lane. Unlike most of them, however, he manages to travel at a high enough rate of speed to pass the cars on his right.

2:09- The police officer gets right up on the SUV's tail. Unlike when I try this on someone traveling slowly in the passing lane, the SUV gets over into the right lane.

2:16- OH SNAP! The child-piloted vehicle swerves off of Highway 52 and actually makes use of the SUV's off road capabilities to take a daring shortcut onto Highway 78.

3:00- The police officer makes a pretty daring move himself, riding against traffic down the shoulder of the highway to end up right back on the SUV's tail.

3:17- The SUV's driver finally reveals his Charleston roots, using multiple left turn lanes and medians as simply another lane for through traffic.

4:44- The SUV's driver thinks about merging onto the interstate, but decides against it...

4:55- ....and then decides "why the heck not?" After swerving wildly into oncoming traffic, the SUV merges onto Interstate 26.

8:20- Lots more police cars showing up; it's definitely a party now.

10:33- The police attempt to put down stop sticks in an attempt to deflate the SUV's tires, but that was of little concern to the kid behind the wheel (who has surely played his fair share of Grand Theft Auto). He swerves to the right to avoid the trap and increases his speed as the pursuit continues.

12:17- Because it's just too much trouble for some people to get over to the right when they hear police sirens, a large truck and an SUV simply stop in the middle of the interstate.

12:30- A second set of stop sticks finally catches the SUV, which causes it to come to a stop. Surprisingly, this is the point when the driver of the car who's point of view we are watching is put into the most danger; some idiot in front of the police car (with wailing sirens and blue lights) attempts to merge onto the left shoulder directly in front of him. Luckily, our police officer is able to avoid a collision.

12:45- Officers (and a police dog who clearly wants no part of all this craziness) get out from their patrol cars and converge on the vehicle.

When the driver (who has not been identified due to being a minor) was apprehended, he told police that he stole the vehicle because he was "mad at his mom." 

He was charged with possession of a stolen vehicle, failure to stop for a blue light, leaving the scene of an accident, and driving without a license.

After initially being taken to jail, the boy was moved to a juvenile justice home (that hopefully has a very secure parking garage).

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