MOORE — Four males were taken into custody Friday after a pursuit by Moore police ended in a chain reaction crash at the intersection of Western Avenue and 119th Street.
Moore Sgt. Jeremy Lewis said the pursuit started at Southmoore High School when the car with four occupants was clocked speeding through a school zone and then refused to stop.
Lewis said the chase went through other school zones before the Moore officers backed off the pursuit when the suspect vehicle headed north on Western Avenue where the reported stolen vehicle crashed into the rear of a car waiting at a stop light.
Lewis said the pursuing officers slowed down when going through school zones.
“Out of nowhere, I see a white car shooting past me, I know, with at least five other police cars behind it,” said Briarwood Elementary crossing guard Shayliena Culwell. “If I get hit, I get hit. But I don’t want any other kid getting hit, much less my own.”
When her shift was over, Culwell went to the scene of the crash and confronted the suspected driver through the window of a police cruiser before being moved away by officers.
Three of the suspects were captured within minutes of the crash and the fourth was picked up within 30 minutes.
Asked why he was driving a stolen car, the suspected driver, who lost his shoes after running away from the crash, said, “Because I can, I was joyriding, sir.”
