Chase of Beer Van Leads to Arrest of 2 Teen-Age Girls

Two 15-year-old girls, one a truant, the other a runaway, took turns doing the driving Wednesday while leading police on a high-speed chase through Sherman Oaks in a stolen beer van, authorities said.

During the chase, one of the girls jumped from behind the steering wheel while the van was moving, Los Angeles police said. The second girl quickly took control, driving the van over a curb and down a sidewalk before crashing into a new Mercedes-Benz.

Both girls were arrested on suspicion of grand theft after the 10 a.m. incident that began when one of the girls left Kennedy High School in Granada Hills during a nutrition break, Detective Kenneth Belt said.

The girl met the other 15-year-old, a runaway she had befriended, outside the school in the 11200 block of Gothic Avenue and they went to the parking lot of a nearby liquor store where they saw a man unloading boxes from a small beer panel truck.

“They thought there would be beer in it,” Belt said. “When the guy’s back was turned, they hopped in the truck and took off.”

There was no beer in the van, which was being used to deliver advertising displays. Belt said the girls drove south on the San Diego Freeway to Sherman Oaks. The van headed off the freeway into Sherman Oaks, where its driver apparently spotted a following police car and began speeding and driving along several streets in the area in an attempt to get away.

A second patrol car joined the chase and on Moorpark Street near Van Nuys Boulevard, the girl driving the van jumped out and ran away. A police officer chased on foot and caught her a block away.

Meanwhile, the other girl climbed into the driver’s seat and, to avoid stopping for traffic, drove over a curb and about 80 feet along a sidewalk before she crashed into a Mercedes-Benz at Moorpark and Tobias Avenue.

The driver of the Mercedes suffered a minor injury. The girl driving the stolen van attempted to run away but was caught by a police officer.