13-Year-Old Girl Leads Nebraska Troopers on 100 MPH Car Chase After Routine Traffic Stop

Photo: Margery A Beck/AP/Shutterstock

A 13-year-old girl is in protective custody after leading Nebraska troopers on ahigh-speed chasefor close to 20 minutes.

The incident began when police spotted a Nissan Pathfinder traveling at 35 miles per hour on I-80 at around 9:30 p.m. Monday.

After troopers attempted a routine traffic stop near the city of Kearney, the Nebraska State Patrol said in a release the vehicle “fled at a high rate of speed” and accelerated to “speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour.”

“As it fled eastbound on I-80,” added the police, “another trooper was able to successfully deploy stop sticks at mile marker 288 to slow the vehicle. The suspect vehicle then exited I-80 at the Shelton interchange and began traveling northbound at slower speeds.”

“A short time later, the trooper was able to successfully perform a tactical vehicle intervention to bring the vehicle to a stop,” continued the release. “The driver and passenger were taken into custody without further incident.”

“Troopers located a firearm in the vehicle as well as a small amount of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.”

The driver of the vehicle was later identified as a 13-year-old girl, while her passenger was an 11-year-old boy.

Nati Harnik/AP/Shutterstock

Under Nebraska law, teenagers are eligible to apply for their learner’s permit starting 60 days before they turn 15, per the state’sDepartment of Motor Vehicles. At that point, however, they can only drive with someone at least 21 years old in the passenger seat. In Colorado, teens can apply for a permit at 15.

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The chase comes just weeks after two high school cheerleaders were killed when apolice chase turned deadlyin Louisiana. Maggie Dunn, 17, and Caroline Gill, 15, were both killed in the crash, which happened during a high-speed pursuit of a home-invasion suspect. Maggie’s brother Liam Dunn was left in critical condition and hadsurgery less than two weeks later.

District Attorney Tony Clayton said that the officer is currently on administrative leave and “has a lot of questions to answer pertaining to his speed and sheer negligence.”

Before that, in November,six people in Lincoln, Nebraskadied in a “devastating overnight crash,” and were discovered after authorities received an alert from one of the victim’s iPhones. The Lincoln Police Department then arrived at the scene on Randolph Street — where the car appeared to have crossed a roadway before striking a tree in a yard. The 26-year-old driver was pronounced dead at the scene, along with four other victims.

“One passenger was 21, one was 23 and two victims were 22 years old,” Lincoln Police wrote in a news release. A 24-year-old woman was then taken to the hospital in life-threatening condition before she “succumbed to the injuries she sustained in the crash,” police said.

“This is the worst crash in Lincoln in recent memory,” police wrote in a release. “Our hearts are heavy for the victims' families.”

source: people.com