Hey, that’s my car! Idaho driver spots his own stolen car on freeway; police arrest three
A Nampa high school was on lockdown briefly Thursday as police arrested multiple people nearby after a brief car chase.
After a local man driving eastbound on Interstate 84 on Thursday morning reported seeing his own vehicle — which he had recently reported stolen — driving past him, Idaho State Police troopers soon found the Honda Civic near Meridian Road, according to an ISP release.
At around 10:45 a.m., a trooper “activated his emergency lights and attempted a traffic stop but the vehicle continued driving,” the release said. As the Civic approached a school zone on the 300 block of South Happy Valley Road, which is in the vicinity of Columbia High School, the officer performed a PIT maneuver that pushed the car into a field next to the road.
“Once the vehicle stopped, all four occupants of the stolen Honda ran,” the release said. “The driver was immediately taken into custody, as were two passengers. Despite a search for the fourth occupant, he has not yet been located.”
The driver of the car was a 17-year-old boy from Nampa, and he was charged with three felonies, including possession of stolen property, eluding a police officer and unlawful possession of a firearm, as well as misdemeanor resisting and obstructing an officer. He is in the custody of the Southwest Idaho Juvenile Detention Center in Caldwell.
The two arrested passengers, both 18, were charged with felony possession of stolen property and misdemeanor resisting and obstructing an officer. One lives in Boise and the other lives in Nampa, according to ISP. Both have been booked into the Canyon County Jail.
Kathleen Tuck, a spokesperson for the Nampa School District, told the Idaho Statesman that Columbia High was notified of the police activity and was placed on lockdown just after 11 a.m. Thursday. The lockdown was lifted sometime after 12:15 p.m., Tuck said.
She said the lockdown interrupted some of the school’s lunch schedule, as older students who can normally leave were told to stay inside.
Police are still looking for the third passenger, and the incident remains under investigation.
This story was originally published August 19, 2021 at 12:13 PM with the headline "Hey, that’s my car! Idaho driver spots his own stolen car on freeway; police arrest three."
