Stolen Pickup Rolls With Four Teens Aboard

Four teenagers lost control of a stolen 1995 Ford pickup, which rolled near Airport Road and Spotted Road early Monday, sheriff’s deputies reported.

The teenagers - two boys ages 16 and 17 and two girls 13 and 15 years old - were believed to have been “prowling” cars near 4100 S. Geiger Blvd. about 6 a.m. Monday when a man confronted them, said Lt. David Wyrick, a sheriff’s spokesman.

The four youths “jumped into the truck and took off, but they didn’t get more than 100 feet when they rolled the vehicle over,” Wiyrick said.

The four tried to flee the scene on foot but were apprehended by airport police who witnessed the accident.

Deputies said the 13-year-old girl is a reported runaway from Clarkston, Wash., and the 15-year-old is a runaway from Cul de Sac, Idaho. The 17-year-old boy is from Clarkston and the 16-year-old boy is from Portland, deputies said.

The truck reportedly had been stolen in Central Ferry, Wash.

None of the teenagers was hurt in the accident, though one boy who complained of a back injury was examined at a Spokane hospital and returned to juvenile detention.

All four suspects were charged with first-degree possession of stolen property. The two boys were also charged with second-degree vehicle prowling.

Wiyrick said the two boys are also being questioned about the theft of a Datsun pickup from Colton, Wash.

Cause of car fire still a mystery

Authorities are continuing their investigation of an abandoned, burned-out Jeep that blocked the Cliff Drive bridge and damaged the guardrail Oct. 26.

Arson investigators said they found two backpacks near the vehicle.

“We found names on some of the items in the backpack,” said Fire Capt. Ernie Nye.

The 5 a.m. crash and fire knocked an 8-foot section of guardrail onto Ben Garnett Way and left another section of railing hanging.

Police and fire units responding to the call found the vehicle engulfed in flames, but any occupants had fled the scene.

Nye said the vehicle’s license has been traced to the registered owner in Lakewood, Colo. He referred them to his son, who lives in Spokane.

“I’m waiting to interview him,” Nye said this week, declining to identify the man.

Nye said investigators are still trying to determine whether the accident caused the vehicle to burst into flames or if the fire’s cause was arson.

Stolen pickup pushed over bridge

A pickup truck was stolen from the driveway of a South Side residence, taken to Cliff Drive and pushed over a bridge onto Ben Garnett Way.

Police said the theft occurred Oct. 29, between 1:30 a.m. and 3:30 a.m., from a house on West 27th Avenue between Bernard and Howard. Stereo equipment was taken from the truck before it was pushed off the bridge, about a block from a burned-out Jeep Cherokee.

The pickup truck was damaged extensively, police said.

, DataTimes