Three juvenile car theft suspects were taken into custody at gunpoint during a high-risk vehicle stop Tuesday, according to Bloomington Police Department Capt. Ryan Pedigo.
Monday around 12:15 p.m. police officers made a high-risk traffic stop near the corner of Madison and Second Street according to a witness who said it looked like a scene from the popular video game, “Grand Theft Auto.”
A video sent to The Bloomingtonian showed officers with guns drawn, and at least two suspects with their hands up. One suspect exited the vehicle, and following orders, slowly backed up and was placed into handcuffs. Another kept his hands outside the vehicle where police could see them and was also placed into cuffs after following the same orders. Police then began to search the vehicle in another video clip. The Bloomingtonian is not posting the video at this time, which clearly shows the identities of the juveniles. (It’s Bloomingtonian editorial policy not to identify juveniles in crime stories).
Police arrested one 17-year-old, and two 16-year-olds who had been in the black 2018 Honda Accord, which had been reported stolen in the 2200 block of W. Sudbury Dr., around noon.
Neighbors told stolen car’s owner they saw it in the morning. Police soon located the vehicle. Police initiated a traffic stop at the corner of 2nd Street and Rogers, and since police didn’t know the intentions of the occupants, a high-risk stop was initiated, said Pedigo.
Later police found a 9mm Ruger handgun under the front passenger seat of the vehicle, and the serial number on the weapon had been obliterated, according to Pedigo.
Two of the juveniles were charged with auto theft, which is a level 6 felony. A third was charged with auto theft, and also possession of a concealed firearm without a handgun license, an A level misdemeanor; and possession of a handgun with an obliterated serial number, a level 5 felony.
