Two teenagers abandoned one stolen car for another — its engine running and unoccupied at the owner's Edina home — and drew officers from four agencies on a 10-mile chase that ended with the vehicle being crashed at a north Minneapolis intersection, authorities said.
Both boys were arrested early Sunday afternoon after fleeing on foot from the scene where the second stolen car crashed, at the intersection of 18th and Newton avenues north, according to Edina police.
The owner of the second stolen car said he was loading items from his home in the 5700 block of Hansen Road into the vehicle, which he had left running in the open garage, when he came back out and saw his BMW pulling away.
"I'll never forget the look in his eyes as he was pulling out," the owner said of the driver. The owner did not want his named used.
The man said he wants vehicle owners to know that it's not only risky to leave a vehicle running in a parking lot or a driveway, but "even doing that in your garage isn't safe." He added that he's grateful his children weren't in the car at the time.
Edina spokeswoman Jennifer Bennerotte said the suspects left behind a car they had stolen in Robbinsdale before fleeing in the BMW.
She said police "try to educate people against" warming up cars unattended during the colder months of the year.
Soon after it was stolen, the boys stopped the BMW momentarily before cranking up the chase into Golden Valley and north Minneapolis, Bennerotte said. State troopers also joined in.
