After two young car thieves led officers on a wild chase Sunday night, Baltimore County police are investigating a group of city youths suspected of a series of car thefts in the northwestern suburbs.
Three city teen-agers were arrested Sunday night, and police expect more arrests and charges against their accomplices today, said Cpl. Kevin B. Novak, a county police spokesman. One of the juveniles arrested Sunday told police that his group had stolen between 45 and 50 vehicles this year, according to state police.
The Sunday night chases began about 9 p.m., when a county K-9 officer spotted five stolen vehicles on the Baltimore Beltway. When he tried to stop the cars, the drivers scattered in different directions, Corporal Novak said, and the K-9 officer radioed for help.
Trooper Sean Gray of the College Park barracks, who was off duty, spotted one of the cars running a red light on Reisterstown Road at Valley Center in Owings Mills and pulled it over after a short chase.
When he got out of his cruiser and approached the stolen 1989 Acura Legend, the driver accelerated and tried to run him over, according to state police Detective Sgt. Michael E. Davey. The trooper fired five shots at the fleeing car, three of which struck the vehicle. Police followed the Acura as it sped off toward Melrose in Carroll County, where the driver rammed a state police cruiser twice before losing control and overturning several times, Sergeant Davey said. Two city youths in the car suffered minor injuries, police said.