Police Capture Five of Six Teens Accused of Hijacking Limo

After a confession by one of the teenagers, five of the six teens who are accused of after running away from the Mars Home for Youth Wednesday were back in custody today.

Adams Township Police Chief Bill Westerman said police continue to search for one 18-year-old who remains at large.

Pittsburgh Police found four of the teens, ages 15 to 17, hanging out near the stolen limo on Pittsburgh’s North Side during the night.  Westerman said he did not know at what time the teens were apprehended. A juvenile probation officer brought them to the Adams Township police department for questioning, he said.

He said the teens in custody would be charged as juveniles with theft, robbery, receiving stolen property, conspiracy and other charges. The missing 18-year-old will be charged as an adult in the incident, he said.

“There’s just a rash of them,” the chief said of the impending charges.

Westerman said the teens were being held at locked-down detention facilities and have not been returned to the Mars Home for Home, a non-secured facility for troubled youths on Route 228. The teens are from communities around Western Pennsylvania, including Allegheny, Westmoreland, Cambria, and Erie counties, he said.

Police had been searching for the teens since they were reported missing from the home early Wednesday morning. Westerman said officers were called to the facility three times overnight Wednesday because the youths were trying to escape from the building.

The first call, around midnight, involved three missing boys. The last call, around 4:30 a.m., involved a small fire started at the home by one of the teens, he said. Three girls from the home were reported missing at that time, and the chief said he believed someone set the fire as a distraction to help the youths slip away unnoticed.

A little after 6 a.m., the teens called for the limo and met the driver at the Mars Area High School parking lot. They did not have enough money to pay the driver for transportation to the Greyhound bus station in Pittsburgh, and one of the teens, a boy, blocked the driver from getting back into the limo after he had gotten out to remove their luggage.

One of the girls slipped behind the wheel and the rest piled in the black Cadillac sedan. They took off, leaving the driver stranded.

Derek DeLucia, owner of Star Limousine Service in Warrendale, said yesterday that his driver was shaken up by the incident but unharmed.

Westerman said one of the teens separated from the group and went to his home in the Pittsburgh area. His mother brought him back to the Mars Home for Youth around 3 p.m. Wednesday. After questioning by officers, the boy provided information that helped police find the missing teens.

“The city of Pittsburgh [Police] found the car and found three of the girls nearby,” Westerman said.

Mars Home for Youth officials said an internal investigation of the incident was ongoing.

"We are thankful for the diligent work of the City of Pittsburgh Police and the Adams Township Police," officials said in a statement Thursday. "Our primary concern is always the safety and well-being of our youth."