3 teens arrested on gun, car theft charges after Beech Grove police chase

BEECH GROVE, Ind. — Three teenagers are in custody on auto theft and gun charges after Beech Grove police say a stolen vehicle pursuit ended in a crash and a foot chase.

Beech Grove police officers were patrolling the area of Emerson Avenue and Victory Drive around 6:30 p.m. Thursday when they saw a stolen car headed northbound. The car, a 2019 silver Hyundai four-door, had been reported stolen earlier that day out of Indianapolis.

BGPD said officers attempted to pull the car over, but the driver did not stop and continued driving. After going two blocks north, the driver stopped at a red light near the Emerson and Elmwood Avenue intersection.

The driver reportedly tried to weave through stopped traffic, eventually hitting multiple other cars and disabling the stolen Hyundai. The driver, identified by police as an 18-year-old male, allegedly got out and ran south into a nearby hotel parking lot, where police arrested him.

Police said that two male passengers inside the car – an 18-year-old and a 17-year-old – briefly ran away from the stolen car before being taken into custody. Inside the car, BGPD said they recovered two handguns.

All three suspects were eventually taken to jail and preliminarily booked on the following charges:

• Driver – 18 years old
  • Auto Theft
  • Unlawful Entry into a Motor Vehicle
  • Resisting Law Enforcement in a Vehicle
  • Resisting Law Enforcement (Fleeing)
  • Leaving the Scene of a Crash
  • Operating a Motor Vehicle without a License
• Front seat passenger – 17 years old
  • Resisting Law Enforcement (Fleeing)
  • Dangerous Person in Possession of a Firearm
  • Unlawful Entry into a Motor Vehicle
• Back seat passenger – 18 years old
  • Resisting Law Enforcement (Fleeing)
  • Unlawful Entry into a Motor Vehicle

Police said that the 18-year-old driver, who was not immediately identified, also had an open warrant for armed robbery. Neither of the two passengers was identified.