Sacramento law enforcement has noticed a troubling trend of teenagers stealing cars and driving recklessly, with some even leading officers on pursuits."It's unfortunate that we are dealing with it in the city of Sacramento. But that's why we have police officers that are out here on the streets that are trying to be proactive to address this issue on a day-to-day basis," said Anthony Gamble from the Sacramento Police Department. This has been an ongoing problem and law enforcement officials say teens are posting their crimes on social media, inspiring others to do the same. Sacramento deputies arrested two teenagers they say stole a car and led them on a pursuit that ended in a fiery crash in May.The entire ordeal was streamed live on social media."This is how not serious they took this. It was a real-life video game to them," Amar Ghandi from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office told KCRA 3 on the day of the crash. Then in June, deputies say three teenagers led them on a high-speed chase in a stolen SUV.All three were arrested after a crash.Sacramento police say crimes like these put innocent people at risk."There's a huge public safety issue with kids who are stealing cars and driving them erratically on the roadway with no regard for community safety," said Gamble. Police are aware of social media pages across the area that have videos of teens stealing cars and being chased by police. Police say these pages are getting popular among teenagers. "They're joyriding often without a license. They're getting in a hit-and-run accident and fleeing often. They're leading officers on pursuits with little regard for the safety of the people around them. So that's a major issue to us and we're going to do everything in our power to address it," said Gamble. Sacramento police are working with other agencies to stop these crimes from happening.They say getting the word out about the trends they're seeing will help.Police are asking parents to be in tune with their kids when it comes to social media, adding that they should speak to them about the dangers of stealing cars and driving recklessly. Parents should also advise their children that if they're caught doing any of this, they will be going to jail.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
Sacramento law enforcement has noticed a troubling trend of teenagers stealing cars and driving recklessly, with some even leading officers on pursuits.
"It's unfortunate that we are dealing with it in the city of Sacramento. But that's why we have police officers that are out here on the streets that are trying to be proactive to address this issue on a day-to-day basis," said Anthony Gamble from the Sacramento Police Department.
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This has been an ongoing problem and law enforcement officials say teens are posting their crimes on social media, inspiring others to do the same.
Sacramento deputies arrested two teenagers they say stole a car and led them on a pursuit that ended in a fiery crash in May.
The entire ordeal was streamed live on social media.
"This is how not serious they took this. It was a real-life video game to them," Amar Ghandi from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office told KCRA 3 on the day of the crash.
Then in June, deputies say three teenagers led them on a high-speed chase in a stolen SUV.
All three were arrested after a crash.
Sacramento police say crimes like these put innocent people at risk.
"There's a huge public safety issue with kids who are stealing cars and driving them erratically on the roadway with no regard for community safety," said Gamble.
Police are aware of social media pages across the area that have videos of teens stealing cars and being chased by police. Police say these pages are getting popular among teenagers.
"They're joyriding often without a license. They're getting in a hit-and-run accident and fleeing often. They're leading officers on pursuits with little regard for the safety of the people around them. So that's a major issue to us and we're going to do everything in our power to address it," said Gamble.
Sacramento police are working with other agencies to stop these crimes from happening.
They say getting the word out about the trends they're seeing will help.
Police are asking parents to be in tune with their kids when it comes to social media, adding that they should speak to them about the dangers of stealing cars and driving recklessly.
Parents should also advise their children that if they're caught doing any of this, they will be going to jail.
See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter
