Whitehall police arrest five youths for car break-ins
Five youths suspected of and stealing cars were arrested Wednesday morning by Whitehall police and charged with felonies.
According to a post on the police department’s Twitter account, the five youths – ages 16, 15, 13, 13 and 11 – were part of a larger group of juveniles seen by a caller getting out of what appeared to be a stolen vehicle just after 9 a.m. in the area of Broad Street and Hamilton Road.
Officers who responded to the scene found the car in question and learned that it had been stolen in Columbus, the post reads. The officers then came across four of the juveniles attempting to steal another car and arrested them.
One of the four, whom police said had tools to steal the car and had smashed one of its windows, had robbery warrants. Police later learned that the teenager was supposed to have been on house arrest and had cut off his ankle monitor that day.
Another juvenile returned to the stolen vehicle that they had arrived in and was arrested after Whitehall detectives blocked the vehicle’s path, according to the Twitter post.
The rest of the group fled on foot and
got into a waiting vehicle, also believed by police to be stolen. Whitehall police began to pursue the vehicle but called off the chase out of concern for the public’s safety, the post read.
Franklin County Juvenile Center only accepted the teenager who had robbery warrants out of the five, according to police. The remaining four were taken to the Village Network Reception Center on Columbus’ Near East
Side.
Shortly after being dropped off, the reception center notified police that three of the teens had snuck out.
On Thursday morning, Whitehall police tweeted that the two 13-year-olds and the 11-year-old had once again been arrested, though police did not specify where they were taken. mtrombly@dispatch.com @monroetrombly