On December 6, on the 200 block of Railroad Avenue, a red BMW was reported stolen during the evening by the owner. Officers remained on the lookout for the vehicle but were unable to locate the vehicle at the time. Later that night, Sergeant J. Jack of Mamou Police was conducting routine business checks on Poinciana Avenue when he noticed a red BMW matching the description of one stolen earlier in the shift. Sergeant Jack immediately began to follow the vehicle and confirm the license plate number. Once the license plate number was confirmed as a match, Sergeant Jack activated his emergency lights and siren on Cajun Drive heading northbound. The BMW, driven by a 16-year-old juvenile, began to accelerate at a high rate of speed in an attempt to evade police. The vehicle then made a right-hand turn into the Meadow Run Apartment complex continuing in the evasion. The vehicle then proceeded on Acadian Street back to Poinciana before making a left-hand turn onto 10th Street. At all times, the driver was exceeding the posted speed limit and driving erratically with no regard for other motorists present on the road. At this time, Ptn. Hannah LaFleur of Mamou Police intervened in the pursuit, activated her emergency lights, and proceeded east on Poinciana in an attempt to box the suspects in. However, that was when the driver made a left turn onto 10th Street to avoid the oncoming police unit. According to Sergeant Jack, the vehicle proceeded south bound on 6th Street before the driver turned off the headlights of the vehicle. The vehicle was then lost momentarily before Chief Brent Zackery, responding to the radio pursuit, advised his officers of an anonymous tip that the vehicle had proceeded to Fred Street and L’Anse Meg Road. Radioed with the location, the officers were able to locate the vehicle which had been wrecked at the corner of Fred Street and L’Anse Meg Road. The juveniles, after wrecking the vehicle, immediately fled the area which was covered in mud and water from the ditch where the vehicle was recovered. The vehicle had been wrecked due to the driver operating the vehicle at a high rate of speed on less than favorable road conditions. The two juveniles were located and arrested by Chief Zackery on Fred Street. Officers then transported the two suspects, ages 14 and 16, to the Mamou Police Department where they were booked and processed. Charges against the two juveniles have been approved by the 13th Judicial District to include one count each of theft of a motor vehicle and one count each of flight from an officer.
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Staff Report