A teenager was charged with stealing a Kia SUV and leading police on a multi-city chase through numerous west metro suburbs that topped 100 miles per hour until he crashed off an Edina highway.
Teen charged with stealing Kia, fleeing police at 100 mph until crashing in Edina
A second stolen vehicle joined with the Kia but got away, according to the charging document.
September 1, 2023 at 7:40PM
The 16-year-old from Minneapolis was charged in a juvenile petition with fleeing police and auto theft, both felonies, in connection with the SUV blasting through a fence and hitting a a tree about 9 a.m. Aug. 12 near an entrance ramp from France Avenue onto eastbound Hwy. 62.
The Star Tribune is withholding the teenager's name because prosecutors have yet to indicate whether they will seek to have him tried as an adult. The teen remains out of custody ahead of a Sept. 18 court date. Court records do not yet show he has an attorney representing him.
According to the charging document:
Eden Prairie police were alerted to a stolen SUV, which had been pursued by the State Patrol that morning, leaving Carver County and heading east on Hwy. 212. Police then learned a stolen Toyota Camry was traveling in tandem with the Kia.
About 9:10 a.m., Eden Prairie police spotted both vehicles on Hwy. 212 going 65 to 75 mph. Officers, with squad lights and sirens activated, caught up to both vehicles, but they accelerated to 94 to 99 mph while weaving through traffic.
The fleeing drivers reached 105 mph on the highway near Shady Oak Road and continued east onto Hwy. 62 while "continuing to weave through traffic and almost causing collisions," the filing read. Officers attempted to deploy stop sticks twice but failed to stop the vehicles."
Farther east on Hwy. 62 near Hwy. 100, a stop stick punctured the passenger-side tires of the Kia, sending the vehicle spinning through a chain link fence before hitting a tree. Officers surrounded the vehicle as all four teenage occupants got out and were taken to HCMC for medical attention, with one requiring admission.
The driver was arrested and admitted to law enforcement to driving the Kia.
Kias and Hyundais have been easy pickings in Minnesota and across the nation in recent years for thieves who often take a joyride.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said this week that he and six fellow state attorneys general 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 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 Kia crash in December, near N. 39th and Upton avenues, proved fatal for the 14-year-old boy who was driving.
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