Photo: Getty Images
When I was teenager, kids thought it was a riot to steal one of the old man’s beers. In 2017 it seems teens have amped up the stakes somewhat, at least in Los Angeles.
According to ABC News, three teenagers who were in an LAPD cadet program stole three department vehicles and went on patrol throughout the city, all before leading real LAPD officers on “wild pursuits” that ended in several crashes.
Photo: Getty Images
The three musketeers included two boys and a girl, ages 15, 16 and 17. They allegedly used a vacationing sergeant’s name to sign out not just the squad cars, but stun guns and radios as well. Because if you’re going to con one of the largest police departments in America, you might as well go all out, right? Yup, the impersonators have been watching way too much Superbad.
The three were arrested Wednesday after two pursuits ended with crashes in South Los Angeles. A third police car was later recovered around the corner from a police station.
Beck said he had ordered a thorough review of the department’s cadet program and policies for managing inventory.
“We are going to take this apart top to bottom,” Beck said at a news conference. “We’re going to see what we can do better and we’re going to do it.”
Further making a laughing stock of LAPD, one of the squad cars could have been missing since May 28. Investigators couldn’t track it down until surveillance video showed the female teen with it at a gas pump.
After they were tracked down and the “wild pursuits” ended, the three teens were arrested. My guess is that their careers as police officers are now in danger. But who knows, maybe they’ll be able to take a few notes from Catch Me If You Can or Beverly Hills Cop.
Now check this out: Woman Drags Cop With Car, Leads Police On Chase That Reaches 100 MPH
Josh Helmuth is the editor of Crave Sports and a contributor to Mandatory.
