12-Year-Old Accused of Driving Stolen Vehicle and Leading Police on Chase in New Mexico

A 12-year-old boy is facing charges after he stole a vehicle and led police on a car chase in Las Cruces, New Mexico, on September 12, according to the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office.

Upon receiving reports of a reckless driver, police attempted to stop the vehicle “to no avail,” the department told Storyful. After slowing down in a parking lot, three male passengers, who police later determined to be juveniles, jumped out of the moving vehicle while the driver continued.

The driver exited the parking lot and drove into oncoming traffic, then “hit a vehicle traveling in the correct direction head on,” wrote the department. “The lone female driver was later transported to an area hospital. Her condition is not known but it appeared to be non-life threatening injuries.”

Officers detained the driver and discovered he was 12 years old with an outstanding warrant to commit burglary of a vehicle. The sheriff’s department told Storyful the youth had been charged with aggravated fleeing of a law enforcement officer and receiving or transferring a stolen motor vehicle. Credit: Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office via Storyful