Police Still Searching For Teenage Girls Following Pursuit
PIERCETON — Two girls, both age 14, are still on the loose following a 20-minute pursuit Friday, Sept. 27. One of the females is a student at Wawasee High School. The other is a Lakeview Middle School student.
Police are asking persons who have information regarding the location of the juveniles to contact Pierceton Police at (574) 267-5667.
Events began around 12:45 p.m. when police were called to the Right Stop Marathon station at the corner of Old 30 and SR 13 for two suspicious people coming in and out of the station.
Police Chief Tim Sammons responded and was told the suspicious persons were two girls outside the store who were standing next to a 2002 Chevrolet S10 extended cab and an individual who was helping put fuel in the tank.
Sammons approached the girls and asked if everything was all right. They told him they ran out of gas and the man was helping them. When asked who was driving, one girl who originally told police she was 15, said it was her, but could not provide any identification. They also told police the vehicle belonged to a friend but did not provide a name. A check of the license plate showed it had been stolen in Warsaw earlier in the week.
Sammons and the two girls went inside the store to gather more information when he was notified of a call from Warsaw Police. Sammons said when he went outside to take the call, the two girls darted out the other end of the store and took off in the truck.
The truck had been stolen Monday, Sept. 18, from Ranger Materials, Argonne Road. The theft was reported by Tony Meadows that evening. He said he had parked the vehicle in the lot around 7:30 a.m. and discovered it missing around 7:30 p.m. The vehicle was unlocked and the keys had been left in the ignition.
The pursuit, which involved multiple police agencies, started westbound on Old 30 toward Warsaw, reaching speeds of 95 mph. Stop sticks were deployed by police near the county highway department on Old 30 and CR 300E, but were avoided by the driver.
Reaching North Cheyenne Drive, Warsaw, the driver turned north and drove through a housing addition and through a yard and into another subdivision to the north. The driver made her way out of the subdivision back to North CR 225E where the pursuit continued northbound.
The driver negotiated the curve at CR 225E and East CR 100N before driving the truck into a cornfield just east of North Winona Church of the Brethren. The truck made it approximately 30 feet into the field before it became stuck.
The two girls fled the truck and ran into a cornfield.
Authorities were able to use a K-9 officer to track the girls a short distance before it started to rain. A drone was also used to search the area for more than an hour to no avail before the search was called off.
Police were initially in contact with the mother of the Wawasee Middle School student, who resides in the Syracuse area. She was asked to notify police when the daughter returned home. However, police have not heard back from the mother.
Charges are pending against the juveniles, which would be felonies if committed by an adult. Those charges include auto theft, resisting law enforcement, fleeing law enforcement and possession of a stolen vehicle.
Authorities report the Chevrolet S10 sustained significant damage.