Published: November 19, 2009 11:26 pm      

Girl, 15, held in spree

Accused of stealing several automobiles

SOMERSET — A 15-year-old Somerset County girl fled Children and Youth Services custody and allegedly went on a rampage, stealing several vehicles and then crashing them.

State police in Somerset said the day-long odyssey began Thursday when a Children and Youth employee took the Jennerstown youth – whose name was not released due to her age – to Richland Township for a dental appointment.

While at the office, the girl fled and somehow ended up in the Moxham section of Johnstown before getting a ride to Boswell.

“We’re still figuring out how she got from the dentist into Somerset County,” state Trooper Robert Boyle said.

The juvenile allegedly stole a Buick Century from the 300 block of Center Street in Boswell. She then abandoned the vehicle in the 800 block of Main Street, where police say she stole a Ford Taurus.

She drove the Ford into Quemahoning Township, where she crashed into a fence on Marts Road.

She wasn’t finished.

Troopers said the girl then stole a Pontiac Grand Am and crashed it in the same area where she had wrecked the Ford.

She later took a Chevrolet Astro van from the same residence where the Grand Am had been, and drove the van to North Star High School in Boswell, where she picked up a

15-year-old friend and drove away on Route 30. The van was crashed on Route 281.

“Being a juvenile and not being an expert driver, it didn’t take much to go off the road,” Boyle said.

An ambulance crew found the two girls walking south on Route 281.

Both were taken to Somerset Hospital with minor injures.

All the stolen vehicles were unlocked, and the girl somehow found the keys, Boyle said.

The girl is being charged with escape, theft of motor vehicles, receiving stolen property and numerous traffic offenses. She was taken to a juvenile detention facility.

Her friend will be charged with receiving stolen property and numerous traffic violations.