3 Dead, Others Injured After Teen Driver Crashes Stolen Vehicle

Three people were killed and several others were injured after a teen driver crashed a stolen vehicle in Kansas City, Missouri, on Tuesday, according to Kansas City police.

Kansas City police said in a press release emailed to Newsweek that the incident began when a 16-year-old driver fled from a police traffic stop in a stolen vehicle. The teenager, who was behind the wheel of a Kia Soul reported stolen earlier in the month, had initially complied with the police order to stop.

However, as an officer approached the vehicle, packed with seven passengers including four children, the teen suddenly sped away. Authorities confirmed that the police officer did not pursue the fleeing vehicle.

“The Kia driver pulled over, but after the officer exited his vehicle, the Kia driver took off at a high rate of speed. The officer did not follow,” Kansas City police said.

Shortly after fleeing, the Kia traveling eastbound on 35th Street “at a high rate of speed” crashed into a Chevy Tahoe. The Tahoe, which was attempting a left turn, was struck and spun around before the Soul slammed into a utility pole and flipped onto its roof.

“The driver of the Kia had pulled over into the westbound lanes to pass the Chevy Tahoe just as the Chevy Tahoe was starting his turn. The vehicles hit in the westbound lanes of travel,” Kansas City police said.

According to authorities, the teen driver and the 37-year-old front seat passenger were pronounced dead at the scene.

“A 20-year-old male was sitting in the second right passenger seat, with a 4-year-old child sitting on his lap. In the middle second row seat was a 6-year-old child. In the rear cargo area were a 12-year-old and 13-year-old, not in any type of seat,” Kansas City police said.

“All other passengers were transported to area hospitals, with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.”

A second left passenger transported to a hospital was pronounced dead shortly after arriving. The remaining five passengers of the Kia Soul suffered serious injuries but are expected to survive.

The driver of the Tahoe also suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to a hospital.

The investigation is ongoing.

This is not the first time a vehicle with a large number of occupants has been involved in a crash.

Last week, nine people died and one was severely injured after an “overloaded” SUV hit a guardrail and overturned into a canal near Belle Glade, South Florida.

A 2023 Ford Explorer, carrying 10 people, was traveling south on Hatton Highway and veered off a two-lane road that briefly curves westward before continuing south, the sheriff’s office said. The female driver failed to navigate the turn, causing the vehicle to hit a guardrail and overturn into a canal running alongside the road.

The SUV was overloaded, the Associated Press reported, adding that according to Ford dealership websites, 2023 Explorers have a maximum capacity of seven people.

Four of the 10 passengers were pronounced dead at the scene, six were hospitalized and only one of those survived, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.