A Kent Police pursuit helped lead to the arrest of a 16-year-old boy for reportedly carjacking a vehicle out of Renton.
At about 6 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 26, a Kent officer was on patrol on the East Hill near SE 240th Street and 104th Avenue SE when he heard a Valley Communications 911 dispatcher air a be on the lookout (BOLO) for a carjacking involving a gun that had occurred seven minutes earlier in Renton, according to a Kent Police Facebook post.
The carjacked vehicle, a silver VW Jetta, was being followed out of town by a Kia that reportedly was also stolen, according to police. Just as dispatch finished up their description, the Kent officer saw a silver Jetta rolling up to the intersection of SE 240th Street and 104th Avenue SE, followed by a Kia. The Jetta had a temporary plate, and the Kia was too far back to confirm the plate number, so the officer casually changed lanes to follow them westbound down the hill.
The officer called for backup and gave updated locations to allow officers a chance to set spike strips, according to police. At one point the officer watched the Kia pull up alongside the Jetta as if they wanted to talk car to car. That enabled the officer to see the Kia’s license plate and a quick run through dispatch confirmed it was stolen.
The stolen cars turned northbound on Central Avenue and initially continued to drive at normal speeds until the Kia sped up to gain some distance from the patrol car, according to police.
The officer opted to stay with the Jetta due to a gun reportedly being involved in that crime. The Jetta attempted to flee southbound on Highway 167, then exited back onto Willis Street. A short time later, it failed to negotiate a turn and slid into a grassy ditch, according to police. The driver was removed with caution due to the involvement of a gun in the crime, then placed under arrest without incident.
A sight used to assist a shooter in aiming a gun reportedly was found in the boy’s pocket. The 16-year-old male reportedly was positively identified by the carjacking victim, according to police. Renton Police took custody of the boy and assumed the remainder of the investigation.
Officers did not locate the Kia.
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