The Arlington, Virginia, police on Saturday arrested a minor after a group of people allegedly led officers on a chase that ended in a crash on Washington Boulevard.
The police said in a statement Monday that four people were trying door handles of parked cars on N. Cameron Street in the predawn hours of Feb. 20. When officers found the Chevrolet Camaro and two other vehicles that were following it closely, they tried to stop them, but the drivers led them on a chase.
They drove onto Lee Highway, then onto Washington Boulevard, where the Camaro crashed into a median. The driver was arrested after a foot chase, the police said.
Another of the vehicles, a black Mercedes, was found unoccupied later on N. Edgewood Street; the driver wasn’t found.
The police said they later found out that two of the vehicles had been reported stolen, the police said — the Camaro from N. Livingston Street, and the Mercedes from a house on N. Cameron Street, a couple of blocks from where the four were allegedly trying doors.
The police said the Mercedes was stolen when someone found the garage door opener to the house in a separate, unlocked vehicle, used that to get into the house through the garage, then stole the keys along with a purse.
At one point during the chase, the third car, with temporary Maryland plates, sped up and tried to hit an officer on foot, crashing into a police cruiser, the police said; no officers were hurt.
The police said the theft of the Mercedes was similar to the theft of a different Mercedes the previous day — the keys were one of the items stolen when someone entered a house on N. Quebec Street through the garage with a stolen garage door opener.
The suspect, and three others, allegedly stole a garage door opener from an unlocked vehicle and broke into the Arlington resident’s home through the garage. Police said that the suspects then stole keys to a Mercedes from a purse inside the home.
The minor is being charged with conspiracy to commit a felony, burglary, eluding and motor vehicle theft.
The police are asking anyone with any more information to call them at 703-228-4193 or by emailing Djohns3@arlingtonva.us. You can also call Arlington County Crime Solvers anonymously at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).
