Three suspects in a rash of car break-ins were arrested early Wednesday morning after leading Andover police on a high-speed chase spanning multiple towns and highways.
Two 16-year-olds from Malden and one from Braintree were on the run for nearly 30 minutes. By 8 a.m. Wednesday, more than a dozen residents of the neighborhood where the chase started reported their cars had been broken into, according to Merrimack Valley Stringer, which first reported this story.
The suspects were not identified because of their age. Andover Police Lt. Edward Guy said the three were scheduled to be arraigned in Lawrence Juvenile Court on charges of breaking and entering a motor vehicle with intent to commit a felony, use of a motor vehicle without authority and possession of burglarious tools.
The chase started after Officer Daniel Driscoll responded to a report of a car break-in on Ivana Drive around 3:34 a.m. Wednesday and saw a vehicle matching the description given by the caller. When hee tried to stop the 2016 Hyundai Elantra, it fled onto Chandler Road near North Street, blowing stop signs, driving over a lawn, and reaching speeds of 66 MPH, according to scanner reports.
The chase moved into Lawrence, then circled back to Lowell Street in Andover before the suspects merged onto Interstate 93 North. The vehicle swerved on the road then merged onto Interstate 495 South, back to Interstate 93 South, back to Interstate 495 and then back onto Interstate 93 North.
Massachusetts State Police and an Essex County Sheriff’s Department K-9 unit assisted in the pursuit. The chase left the highway and the suspects fled onto River Road, heading towards Lawrence.
With front-end damage slowing it down, the vehicle crashed into a guardrail near Beacon and Andover Streets in Lawrence around 3:59 a.m. A minute later, the car crashed a second time on Tewksbury Street, a dead-end street in Lawrence, where the occupants jumped out of the vehicle and fled.
All three suspects were arrested on Tewksbury Street in Lawrence after a brief foot chase involving Lawrence, Andover, and Massachusetts State Police, as well as the Essex County K9 unit.
Andover police are continuing to investigate numerous motor vehicle breaks in the area overnight. Anyone with information regarding these vehicle breaks, are asked to contact the Andover Police Department at (978) 623-3500.
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