COLUMBUS, Ohio — Two teenage girls, ages 12 and 13, crashed a reportedly stolen vehicle into a fence near Hilliard Wednesday morning after fleeing from a Franklin County Sheriff’s deputy during a traffic stop, according to the sheriff's office.
At approximately 2:20 a.m., a deputy attempted to initiate a traffic stop on the vehicle that authorities identified as a Kia Soul in the area of Sullivant Avenue and Georgesville Road near west Columbus.
The teens drove away from the scene. The sheriff’s office did not say if deputies pursued the vehicle.
The driver lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a wooden fence surrounding a pond at Austin Place apartments near Hilliard-Rome and Fisher roads.
The teens were taken to Nationwide Children’s Hospital to be treated for injuries and are expected to be OK.
"For us to take all of the necessary officer safety precautions to only then find out once we're putting the cuffs on the age of some of these individuals it's very disturbing,” Chief Deputy Jim Gilbert said. “It's something we don't take lightly. As parents we're very concerned, everybody should be concerned."
Gilbert said these children who are out committing criminal offenses are also victims as well.
“At such a young age we want to try to put them in the right position to be successful as they grow up and, you know, join society as members,” he said.
The sheriff’s office did not say if charges will be filed.