ANN ARBOR, Mich. (WFLA) – A 12-year-old boy driving a stolen construction forklift in Michigan led police on an hourlong chase Saturday, striking 10 parked vehicles during the pursuit, police said on social media.
According to the Ann Arbor Police Department, the vehicle, a Construction Genie GTH-636 Telehandler – equipped with a forklift and weighing up to 35,000 pounds – was stolen from outside the Forsyth Middle School. Based on the preliminary investigation, officials said, the vehicle was unlocked with the key hidden inside the cab.
“This was a very dangerous situation that could’ve easily ended with serious injuries,” the police department said on Facebook.
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Police said officials were first called to the school around 6:45 p.m. Saturday on reports that a juvenile was trying to steal a construction vehicle.
Minutes later, officers found the boy driving down the street without any headlights on. With their lights flashing and emergency sirens on, officers pursued the vehicle at 15 to 20 mph.
Dashcam video of the pursuit shows Ann Arbor police following the boy.
“He’s lowering the hooks. Don’t go in front of [the forklift],” an officer is heard saying in the video.
Police can also be heard telling the child to “pull over now.”
Officers stopped the pursuit around 7:18 p.m. when the boy left city limits going across the M-14 bridge. From there, the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office took over the chase until about 7:53 p.m. when the 12-year-old stopped driving.
The boy, whose identity was not revealed because he’s a minor, was taken into custody and put into a juvenile detention center Saturday night. No one was injured.
Police said the investigation is ongoing.