By Michelle Hunter
Source The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate
Three juveniles in a stolen car led Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office deputies on a wild chase around the West Bank Tuesday afternoon, leaving a motorcycle deputy injured and at least five civilian vehicles damaged, Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joseph Lopinto said.
The teens, ages 15, 16, and 17, were taken into custody after the pursuit ended with a multi-vehicle crash at the intersection of Barataria and Lapalco boulevards.
It was the second chase for the Sheriff's Office in two days. On Monday, three deputies were injured, and six vehicles wrecked during a chase that started in Harvey and ended near South Galvez and Poydras streets in New Orleans.
"We had another pursuit today, kind of like 'Groundhog Day' around here," Lopinto said.
The deputy injured Tuesday was sitting on his motorcycle, attempting to clear traffic at the intersection of Westwood Drive and the West Bank Expressway during the chase, when the stolen vehicle, a black sedan, sideswiped his leg, Lopinto said.
The deputy was taken to the hospital in stable condition and is expected to recover.
The chase began on Manhattan Boulevard in Harvey after an automated license-plate recognition camera alerted deputies to a stolen license plate on the suspects' vehicle, according to Lopinto.
The license plate belonged to a car that had been reported stolen in Jefferson Parish. But the pilfered plate had been attached to a different car which had been reported stolen out of New Orleans, Lopinto said.
The 17-year-old, who was driving the stolen vehicle, refused to pull over, kicking off a chase that ranged "through all of the West Bank of Jefferson Parish," Lopinto said.
Two civilian vehicles were damaged in crashes near the West Bank Expressway, Lopinto said. Another three vehicles were hit when the chase ended at Barataria and Lapalco boulevards.
The teens were transported to hospitals for treatment of minor injuries, Lopinto said.
The Sheriff's Office chase on Monday also started on Manhattan Boulevard in Harvey. A woman wanted in connection with a criminal investigation in New Orleans fled when Sheriff's Office deputies tried to pull her over, authorities said.
The New Orleans Police Department has not yet identified the woman or disclosed any details about the investigation.
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