Video shows teens crash stolen car on Beltline, lead police on a foot chase

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - New video released to NBC15 Investigates shows the moment six teens crash a stolen car on the Beltline and then scatter all over the road, narrowly missing being hit by oncoming traffic.

The incident happened last Friday, March 18 during rush hour. The ongoing search caused major delays for rush hour drivers who are heading east on Hwy. 12/18, near the Monona Drive interchange. Both MPD warned and WisDOT traffic cams showed traffic backing up on the Beltline as people navigated the bottleneck.

The vehicle involved in the incident was reported stolen out of Sun Prairie around 3 p.m. on Friday. Police say they tracked the vehicle using a security app in the the car. The car chase ended on the Beltline’s far eastbound shoulder near Monona Drive, but the foot chase took officers across six lanes of rush hour traffic and into the Yahara River.

You can see in the video, a black car comes barreling down the eastbound shoulder, clipping cars before coming to a stop. And then you see one child get out of the car, running across traffic and almost getting hit by a white car. The teen continues running, trips on the wet pavement before shuffling out of the way of a semi truck just seconds from being hit.

All six passengers of that stolen car are then seen scrambling on the Beltline, crossing the median with traffic still coming westbound. Teens are seen near the guardrail with nowhere to go. And then one teen jumps over into the Yahara River marsh.

Local law enforcement had to use water rescue boats to look for the teen who jumped into the river. They found him and took him into custody about an hour and a half later.

The driver of the stolen car, 18-year-old Avion Howard, is charged with a felony of driving or operating a vehicle without consent and for resisting an officer. Howard will be back in court for a preliminary hearing on April 7, according to court documents.

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