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A 14-year-old boy driving a large earthmover led authorities on a chase from Midtown to the West Side on Thursday evening.
The incident ended about 9 p.m. when police officers fired at the tank-sized construction vehicle as it headed toward police cars on North Camino de Oeste near West Speedway in the Tucson Mountain foothills.
The boy was wounded in the shooting and was in critical condition at a hospital late Thursday. Medical personnel at the scene told dispatchers he had suffered at least one gunshot wound to the left armpit area.
“They thought he was going to go over the vehicles, with the officers in them,” said assistant police chief Kermit Miller. “They felt threatened so they shot.”
Miller said the officers fired at the driver and were not trying to disable the vehicle.
The boy’s name was not released. Authorities late Thursday had contacted his mother, Miller said. It was not known why the boy took the vehicle and led police of the chase, he said.
The bizarre chase began shortly after 8 p.m. near East Grant and North Swan roads.
Tucson police Sgt. Steve Wheeler said 911 received a call about a child driving a large earthmover southbound on Swan near Grant.
By the time the first officers arrived in the area, the earthmover had already struck a utility pole, knocking out electricity to the area, he said.
He said the vehicle was a Caterpillar scraper, more than 40 feet in length.
Wheeler said during the chase police were trying to contact Caterpillar representatives to see if they could help them find a way to stop the vehicle.
Police officers managed to pull up alongside the vehicle and were trying to communicate with the driver, he said. But the driver never stopped. It’s not known where the boy got the earthmover, but police are checking with nearby construction sites.
The construction vehicle, with tires more than 6 feet tall, headed west on Grant.
Dozens of Tucson police officers drove behind - and at times in front - of the vehicle as it rumbled west on Grant, continuing on Ironwood Hill Drive.
At one point officers were asking over their radios for permission to jump onto the vehicle to try to enter the cab and stop it. Supervisors told them it was too risky, with the vehicle weaving from side to side.
The earthmover turned south on Camino de Oeste and at some point near Speedway, the boy turned the vehicle around, Miller said.
He said the vehicle headed toward at least 17 police vehicles and that’s when two officers fired at least one shot each at the boy.
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/crime/78134.php
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