Police: Teen Stole Then Crashed Car

A Bethlehem teenager crashed a stolen car he was driving into a street light in the SouthSide Monday night in a futile attempt to elude arrest, city police said.

George Hernandez, 18, of 418 W. Fourth St., allegedly took the car, a 1997 maroon Saturn, from in front of 814 Bridge St. at a little before 10 p.m.

Soon after the car was reported stolen, a city officer spotted the car on Linden Street at Market Street traveling south, police said. The police officer pursued the Saturn and stopped Hernandez at the north end of the Philip J. Fahy Bridge.

According to police, Hernandez had turned the car off, but turned the ignition back on and took off south across the bridge. When the suspect attempted a right turn onto the bridge's Second Street ramp, he lost control of the car, which hit a streetlight, knocking it over in turn hitting a cement planter.

Then, police said, Hernandez got out of the car and ran through the parking lot and into the road construction zone before he was finally apprehended.

Hernandez was charged with theft, receiving stolen property, fleeing police, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and other related charges.