Boy, 15, drove stolen vehicle, Sheriff’s Office says

AMENIA, N.Y. » A 15-yearold Poughkeepsie boy driving a vehicle stolen in Ulster County was charged with failing to comply with law enforcement after ignoring officers’ attempts to pull him over, the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office said Friday.

The boy, who was not identified, was arrested early Friday and charged as a juvenile. He will appear in Dutchess County Family Court, the Sheriff’s Office said.

The Sheriff’s Office said deputies were called about 1:15 a.m. to assist city of Poughkeepsie police who had been trying to stop a vehicle. Once outside the city limits, deputies assumed the lead role and continued trying to stop the vehicle, but it continued to travel without stopping until it reached state Route 22 in Amenia, at which point “stop sticks” were used, the Sheriff’s Office said.

While the driver was failing to comply with attempts to stop the vehicle, information came from Ulster County that the vehicle had possibly been stolen from Ulster County and one of the passengers might have been abducted, deputies said.

Further investigation, though, showed all six occupants of the vehicle were juveniles and no abduction had taken place, deputies said. Deputies said the vehicle was stolen from one of the juvenile’s relatives in New Paltz but that the owner declined to press charges for theft.

One of the passengers in the vehicle stole it from a relative before picking up the juvenile who ultimately was driving it, deputies said.

The five juvenile passengers were released to their parents.

The Sheriff’s Office said the identities of the juveniles were being withheld due to their ages.