CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio — A silver Kia vanished from a Gumm Place parking spot before sunrise on July 25. By that afternoon, police say two juveniles had already moved on to a second stolen car, a red Hyundai, and used it to lead officers through downtown Circleville until the pursuit was called off.
Circleville police later bundled the thefts under one main case file and said the Pickaway County prosecutor’s office filed theft charges against both juveniles.
Empty space, broken handle
Officer Massie was dispatched to Gumm Place about 6:26 a.m. after a caller reported a stolen vehicle. The caller said she woke around 6 a.m. and found her car gone.
Massie found an empty space in front of the residence and a broken exterior door handle on the ground near the parking area. The missing vehicle was listed as a silver 2017 Kia Sportage. The caller said a pair of Apple AirPods, valued at about $150, had been left inside. She estimated the tank was about three-quarters full and could not say which way the car went.
A neighbor identified in the report as Kara checked a doorbell camera. The footage did not capture the theft.
The Kia was entered as stolen. Two days later, Fairfield County deputies recovered it at 221 E. High Street in Amanda. Circleville records say the vehicle was then taken out of stolen status.
The owner later called Circleville police, unhappy with how the recovery was handled. She said she had been told photos were taken and that she could pick the car up, but she did not believe Fairfield County had processed it as a stolen recovery should be processed. Circleville officers said Fairfield County had not yet notified them when she first called. After the agencies connected, she was told to work with Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office on the release and to call Circleville if anything of investigative value turned up inside the car.
Police logged the Kia and the AirPods as stolen and the broken door handle as evidence. The report lists theft and criminal damaging.
A second car, on video
That same day, Officer Hollaway went to a South Court Street apartment about 3:18 p.m. on a follow-up. The caller said his vehicle had been stolen earlier and that he had camera video to turn over.
On the caller’s phone, Hollaway watched two juveniles break into the car and drop off another vehicle police already considered stolen. The caller later emailed the video and provided a VIN. Dispatch listed a red 2020 Hyundai Elantra as stolen.
Hollaway wrote that Officer Martin had already recovered a white 2017 Hyundai Elantra from that same property earlier in the day. That white Hyundai was placed in temporary police custody.
The South Court video, as described in the report, is the spine of the case:
A juvenile in a gray hoodie, later identified by a Pickaway County juvenile probation officer as a 13-year-old, got out of the rear passenger side of the white Hyundai and walked up to the red Hyundai.
A juvenile in a black hoodie, later identified as a 15-year-old from the Laurelville area, got out of the driver’s seat of the white Hyundai, walked to the red car, forced entry, and started it.
The 13-year-old drove the white Hyundai behind the garages and parked it. He and four other people who have not been identified then left the white car and climbed into the red Hyundai. The 15-year-old drove away.
Hollaway wrote that he recognized the gray hoodie from prior contact. The probation officer identified the teen in the black hoodie.
“Went airborne”
The red Hyundai did not stay gone for long.
About 7:37 p.m., Officer Harrington was eastbound on East Main Street when he spotted the car in the parking lot of Smokey Joe’s Smoke and Vape Shop at 513 East Main Street, near Zanzi’s Pizza. The report describes a red Hyundai Elantra with a black front bumper cover. Harrington said the driver matched the suspect from the theft videos: a juvenile male in a black hood and red pants, with an unknown female passenger.
As Harrington reached Lancaster Pike, the Hyundai pulled out and headed south toward an alley. Harrington moved in. The car shot through the alley between East Franklin Street and East Main Street.
“I observed the red Hyundai Elantra go airborne after accelerating,” Harrington wrote.
It continued south toward East Mound Street, turned left there, then right onto Mingo Street and onto East Union Street.
Officer Hollaway joined with lights and sirens. Radio traffic said Harrington was in a pursuit. People on the street pointed officers west onto West Ohio Street, then right onto Elm Street, then left onto West Corwin Street.
No officer still had eyes on the car. Hollaway terminated the pursuit.
Harrington later said he could positively identify the 15-year-old as the driver.
What was charged
Hollaway’s supplement listed the 15-year-old for theft of a motor vehicle, obstructing official business, and failure to comply with an order or signal of a police officer by fleeing. The 13-year-old was listed for theft of a motor vehicle.
On July 28, Officer Tosca noted that charges were being held until more information came in and that the main report for the incidents was R26-02177.
On Aug. 20, Tosca wrote that the Pickaway County prosecutor’s office had filed theft charges against both juveniles and pointed back to that main file for details.
The reports do not describe arrests on the night of the chase, do not name the four other people in the video, and do not say what happened to the unknown female passenger. They also do not say whether anyone has been convicted. In Ohio, motor vehicle theft is a felony-level offense. Failure to comply by fleeing can be charged as a felony when a driver willfully eludes police.
