West Columbia, SC (Paul Kirby) – Three juveniles were taken into custody early Thursday after they led law enforcement officers on a pursuit in a stolen pickup truck. According to the report obtained from the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department, a deputy from their North Region was patrolling just west of I-26 on Augusta Road around 3:20 a.m. Thursday. The deputy noticed a small truck with three people inside. One of the passengers was sitting on another’s lap without any seatbelt on. The deputy fell in behind the truck and noted several other traffic violations. He also had dispatch run the truck’s tag and it came back as just having been stolen out of West Columbia. The deputy activated his warning devices to pull the truck over, but the driver accelerated away.
The truck and its occupants made their way from Augusta Road east using back streets until he ended up on Charleston Highway. At Sandhills Parkway just south of Cayce, the pickup hit the front of a tractor trailer truck. The occupants then jumped out of the cab and attempted to flee on foot.
Two of the occupants of the truck were immediately detained by the deputy after the pursuit ended. One tried to hide in some nearby timber and was eventually spotted and captured too.
The juveniles were turned over to their legal guardians pending a hearing in Family Court. Possession of the stolen truck was transferred to the West Columbia PD since that’s where it was stole.
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