Lemoore officer nabs teenage car thief in early morning hours

It was about 1:30 a.m. when a Lemoore police officer was patrolling in the neighborhood of E. D St. when he observed a silver four-door vehicle veering off into the dirt shoulder. According to the police report, the driver corrected himself and began traveling westbound on E. D St. at a high rate of speed.

The officer turned his patrol vehicle around in order to stop the vehicle and witnessed the silver vehicle traveling in the opposite lane of traffic.  When the officer tried pulling the vehicle over, the driver failed to yield and fled at a high rate of speed.

The suspect then failed to stop for a red light and two additional stop signs before the officer temporarily lost sight of the vehicle in the area of W. D Street and W. Bush.

Witnesses in the area told the officer that the vehicle was in the area of 19 ½ Ave. and Silverado Drive. The officer located the vehicle again in the area of S. 19th and Iona avenues

The officer continued the pursuit and eventually saw the suspect’s car drive into an empty dirt field located in the area of S. 19th and Jackson Ave. The single occupant, identified as a 17-year-old male from Hanford, was taken into custody. The suspect’s vehicle suffered moderate damage.

An investigation determined that the vehicle was one of several that were stolen from a car dealership in Hanford. The thefts of the vehicles occurred approximately ten minutes prior to the police officer’s initial spotting of the car. The juvenile was turned over to the Hanford Police Department and was subsequently booked into the Kings County Juvenile Hall.