CINCINNATI -- A pair of 15-year-old boys in a stolen car led police on a chase through the West End Friday afternoon, at one point firing a gun inside the vehicle.
Both boys face felony charges of tampering with evidence and receiving stolen property; one also faces charges of discharging a firearm and fleeing and eluding. Two passengers, a 15-year-old boy and girl, were released from Hamilton County Juvenile Justice Center without charges.
The incident started after officers found the stolen car on John Street, Lt. Steve Saunders said, and its occupants tried to escape. The pursuit continued on Liberty Street and Linn Street, where one boy fired a shot and then threw the gun from the car.
The teenagers finally crashed at the corner of Linn Street and Derrick Avenue, at which point they attempted to a getaway on foot, Saunders said.
Feet away, Cincinnati College Preparatory Academy students who had been preparing to leave for the day instead spent 45 minutes in a cautionary lockdown.
"My teacher turned the lights off," 10-year-old Navee'ah Benton said. "We were all crying in the corner and we were scared."
While a Cincinnati College Preparatory Academy resource officer secured the abandoned but still-moving car, police caught the suspects and recovered the gun, Saunders said. No one was hurt in the incident.
Although one of the boys did fire the gun, Saunders said investigators determined he was not aiming at officers and therefore would not face related charges.
