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SPANISH FORK — Two teen boys were arrested Tuesday after stealing a car and leading police on a 110-mile-per-hour chase through Spanish Fork Canyon, officials said Thursday.
At about 10:40 p.m. Tuesday, a detective ran a license plate check on a 1989 Mercedes that was driving on I-15 in Spanish Fork, according to a statement from Utah County Sheriff’s Sgt. Spencer Cannon.
The detective tried to pull the car over, but the car began driving down Center Street in Spanish Fork at 80 mph.
Sheriff's detectives and deputies began chasing the car, which continued on state Route 6 into Spanish Fork Canyon. The car reached speeds higher than 110 mph, Cannon said.
The driver of the car lost control and went off the road near mile marker 186, about 10 miles southeast of Spanish Fork, Cannon said. The 17-year-old driver and a 16-year-old passenger got out of the car and ran down a steep hill, leaving a 13-year-old boy in the car.
Deputies used an infrared device to locate the boys on the hillside after a 20-30 minute search.
The two boys told detectives they had stolen the car from an industrial complex in Orem and had plans to drive to Las Vegas, Cannon said.
All three boys had run away from a residential treatment facility in Provo at about 8 p.m., according to Cannon.
The 16-year-old and 17-year-old were booked into the Slate Canyon Youth Detention Center in Provo.
Detectives determined the 13-year-old boy did not want to be involved with stealing the car or fleeing from police. He was returned to the treatment facility, Cannon said.
