Two teenagers, both 17-year-olds, are in custody following a chaotic encounter with Mesa police officers when a stolen vehicle pursuit escalated into an officer-involved shooting on Thursday evening. According to FOX 10 Phoenix, the Mesa Police Department confirmed that none of its officers were injured during the incident, which unfolded in a residential neighborhood near Broadway and Sossaman roads just after 4:45 p.m.
The episode began when the city's real-time crime center identified a stolen car near Power Road and Main Street. Officers tried to halt the car with a Grappler device, however it failed to secure the vehicle as intended. "The car reportedly then drove into a cul-de-sac, drove onto lawns, then came at a police car head-on," Detective Brandi Myers shared with FOX 10 Phoenix. It was at this point that the police discharged their weapons.
Aerial footage from SkyFOX showed a truck with a broken windshield amidst the crime scene tape crowning a residential road, indicating the location of the attempted arrest and subsequent shooting. As per the information gathered by AZFamily, the Grappler device made contact but popped off the tire, failing to stop the suspects, who continued to escalate the situation by driving through front yards and eventually confronting police officers head-on.
One of the suspects sustained a hand injury, while the other emerged unharmed. "It doesn't appear the teens were armed with any weapons," Det. Myers conveyed. In light of the suspects' unarmed status and the non-fatal outcome of the event, both suspects were successfully apprehended without further incident.
