Car Chase, School Shutdown, Three Arrested

NAMPA, ID — Idaho State Police were able to safely stop a fleeing stolen vehicle Thursday, taking three teens into custody. A fourth ran and has not yet been located. After spotting the vehicle on Interstate 84, Troopers performed a PIT maneuver to get the vehicle stopped before it entered a school zone.

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At 10:32 a.m., a citizen called ISP dispatchers saying he was driving eastbound on I-84 in Canyon County and witnessed his own car drive past him. The man told dispatchers he'd recently reported the vehicle stolen out of Ada County.

At approximately 10:45 a.m., a Trooper spotted the vehicle, a Honda Civic, on eastbound I-84 near Meridian Road. The Trooper activated his emergency lights and attempted a traffic stop but the vehicle continued driving. The Trooper continued to follow the vehicle and as the stolen Honda approached a school zone on the 300 block of South Happy Valley Road, the Trooper performed a PIT maneuver that pushed the Honda into a field on the east side of the road.

Once the vehicle stopped, all four occupants of the stolen Honda ran. The driver was immediately taken into custody, as were two passengers. Despite a search for the fourth occupant, he has not yet been located.

The driver of the stolen vehicle was identified as a 17-year-old boy from Nampa. He was arrested and placed in the custody of the Southwest Idaho Juvenile Detention Center in Caldwell. He faces charges of felony possession of stolen property, felony eluding a police officer, felony unlawful possession of a firearm, and misdemeanor resisting and obstructing an officer. Troopers also arrested the two passengers and booked them into the Canyon County Jail.

Boise resident Nikilas S. Knapp, 18, has been charged with felony possession of stolen property (F) and misdemeanor resisting and obstructing an officer. Nampa resident Yisreal Verduzco, 18, has been charged with felony possession of stolen property (F) and misdemeanor resisting and obstructing an officer.

Assisting Idaho State Police were officers from the Meridian and Nampa Police Departments and deputies with the Ada County Sheriff's Office. This incident remains under investigation by the Idaho State Police.

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