Four teens who fled from police in Kia, then crashed in Edina, are out of custody

Four teenagers arrested after crashing an allegedly stolen Kia during a police pursuit in Edina have been released from custody as prosecutors weigh charges against two of them.

The vehicle ran through a highway fence and hit a tree about 9 a.m. on Aug. 12 near an entrance ramp from France Avenue onto eastbound Hwy. 62.

Eden Prairie police spokeswoman Joyce Lorenz said two of those arrested were 16 years old, one was 17 and one was 15. All have been released, Lorenz said.

Nicholas Kimball, a spokesman for the Hennepin County Attorney's Office, said prosecutors received the case about noon Thursday from police, who want one teenager to face a felony count and a second to be charged with a misdemeanor.

The chase began when sheriff's deputies from Carver County asked Eden Prairie police to help pursue the Kia, which was fleeing while accompanied by a Toyota Camry, Lorenz said.

Eden Prairie officers spotted the two vehicles speeding eastbound on Hwy. 212 near Prairie Center Drive, Lorenz said.

The SUV drove over "stop sticks" placed on the highway by the State Patrol, veered to the right, crashed through a fence and spun into a tree, the spokeswoman said.

A traffic video from the Minnesota Department of Transportation showed several law enforcement vehicles converge on the wreck and officers emerging with guns drawn.

The Camry, later determined by police to also be stolen, continued to flee east on Hwy. 62 without being stopped, she said.

Kias and Hyundais have been easy pickings in Minnesota and across the nation in recent years for thieves who often take a joyride or drive recklessly.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said this week that he and six fellow attorneys general in the United States are urging the federal court overseeing a consumer class-action settlement involving Hyundai and Kia to strengthen the terms by requiring the companies to recall or buy back the theft-prone vehicles and equip them with the engine-immobilizer technology.

Ellison's statement pointed out that Kias and Hyundais stolen last year in Minneapolis were involved in five homicides, 13 shootings, 36 robberies and 265 crashes. He said that one crash in December, near N. 39th and Upton avenues, proved fatal for a 14-year-old boy who was driving a Kia.