Police arrest 3 teens in alleged crime spree

Police in northern Utah arrested a gang of teenagers suspected of going on a crime spree stretching from Bountiful to Brigham City.

It began with a high-speed chase early Thursday morning, said Brigham City Police Lt. Michael Nelsen.

"The officer spotted the vehicle about 2 in the morning and noticed the kid driving it looked quite young," Nelsen said. "We have a curfew here, and the officer started to follow the vehicle."

Nelsen said the 2004 Ford Explorer ran several stop signs and a red light and kept increasing speed. Eventually, the chase went outside Brigham City limits at speeds of more than 95 mph. Box Elder County sheriff's deputies and Tremonton police joined in the chase. It ended in Honeyville, where police spiked the Explorer's tires.

"Four teens jumped out of the vehicle and fled," Nelsen said Thursday. "We arrested three of them. One fled the scene."

Police arrested two 16-year-old boys and a 13-year-old boy. Box Elder County sheriff's chief deputy Lynn Yeates said the 17-year-old boy who got away is believed to have stolen another car in Honeyville. That car was left warming up in the driveway of a home.

Investigators said the Ford Explorer was reported stolen out of Ogden on Sunday. Inside the SUV, Nelsen said investigators found items stolen from homes and cars in Bountiful, Layton and Roy.

"They went on kind of a crime spree," he said. "We have snowboards, CDs, stereos and cell phones. Apparently, they were going around opening up car doors and taking anything that's of value."

Nelsen said the teens were also walking into open garages and testing the doors leading into a home.

"If the garage was open, they'd open up the back door and sneak into the house and look inside the kitchen. One guy had a cell phone stolen out of his kitchen," Nelsen said. "He called his cell phone after we had them stopped and the officer answered it."

Police were working with agencies in Davis and Weber counties to track down the owners of the stolen property. Three of the teens were booked into the Cache County Juvenile Detention Facility in Logan on investigation of possession of a stolen vehicle, stolen property, evading and reckless endangerment. The 17-year-old remained at large Thursday. Police said all four of the teens are from the Ogden area and are believed to have gang ties.

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