A random license check led to a police pursuit through Phoenix and into the desert north of the valley and ended with the arrest of three people.
On Wednesday, February 27, a Phoenix police officer conducted a random license check on a yellow Honda Civic and discovered the car had been stolen from Tempe on Tuesday. According to police spokesman Officer James Holmes, a police pursuit ensued when the driver failed to stop for the officer.
The driver fled the area by traveling west on Peoria Avenue toward Interstate 17. While attempting to enter the interstate, the Honda struck five vehicles. The suspects drove north and then exited the highway on Bumblebee Road to avoid stop sticks placed on the highway by law enforcement officers.
According to the police report, while attempting to flee from officers, a suspect in the back seat was seen throwing an object out of the window. The police report did not state if officers found the object thrown from the window of the vehicle.
The police pursuit ended with the car careening off the road when the driver failed to navigate a turn on Crown King Road and lost control of the vehicle.
The driver of the Honda, Ryan Tsosie, 22, and his two passengers, Shane Johnson, 19, and a 17-year-old unidentified female, were taken into police custody. The two males were booked into the Fourth Avenue Jail and the female was detained at the Juvenile Corrections Center.
The driver of the vehicle, Ryan Tsosie, faces charges of auto theft, felony flight, five counts of aggravated assault from hitting five vehicles when attempting to enter the interstate, and numerous felony warrants. Shane Johnson and the unidentified juvenile face auto theft charges.
Original story can be found here.
