By Chris De Benedetti
Contra Costa Times
OAKLAND, Calif. — A 12-year-old San Leandro area boy driving a stolen car was arrested Saturday afternoon after leading officers on a four-mile chase, police said.
Authorities said the chase began in San Leandro and ended in east Oakland, where the child and his passenger ran away after ditching the vehicle.
Police caught and arrested the driver on the 7000 block of Halliday Avenue in Oakland, San Leandro police Lt. Jeff Tudor said. The male juvenile passenger escaped on foot.
The driver, whose name is not being released because he is a minor, stands 5 foot 8 — tall enough to easily see over the steering wheel, Tudor said.
“It’s shocking that a 12-year-old is out there committing this type of crime and leading police on a dangerous pursuit,” he said.
The incident started around 3:15 p.m., when officers responding to a report of a stolen white 1990s Toyota Camry spotted the boy driving the car, Tudor said.
The was stopped for a traffic light at West Juana Avenue and San Leandro Boulevard, about three-fourths of a mile from where the car disappeared. When officers flashed their patrol car’s emergency lights and sounded the siren, the driver sped away and officers pursued, police said.
But they called off the pursuit as a safety precaution when the boy started driving erratically, police said.
“The officers didn’t know his age at the time,” Tudor said.
A few minutes later, the chase resumed when officers spotted the driver at the intersection of San Leandro Street and 105th Avenue in Oakland, Tudor said. With officers following, the boy drove on Oakland streets until he slammed the car’s tires against the curb in the 7000 block of Halliday Avenue, at which point, he and the passenger fled the vehicle, police said.
The pair escaped into the back yard of a nearby home, while San Leandro and Oakland police set up a perimeter in the residential area and searched several backyards, police said.
Around 3:50 p.m., officers found the driver and arrested him on suspicion of two felonies — possession of a stolen vehicle and evading police — and two misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest and possession of burglary tools, Tudor said.
Authorities sent the boy to Alameda County Juvenile Hall in San Leandro. He was expected to appear in court Monday, Tudor said. He would not say if the boy had a criminal record.
Damage to the stolen car was minor, police said.
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