Three 14-year-old teenagers accused of stealing a van and then running from Battle Creek police officers were taken into custody earlier this week. Tuesday afternoon, a 39-year-old Vicksburg man says he was completing a job at Arbor Pointe Townhomes and returned to his vehicle to discover it was missing. A call from a woman a few minutes later to police informed them that a van was stuck in the snow in the parking lot of a church on W. Michigan Ave.

When an officer arrived, three teens began fleeing on foot but were all caught a short time later at Michigan and Van Buren Avenues. The boys denied they had stolen the van saying a fourth teen was driving the van and pulled up to asked if they wanted a ride. One of the other teens told police they were walking and found keys next to the van which was stuck in the parking lot, trying to get it free.  He said they began walking away and then ran from the police because they were scared.

Reports were sent to Juvenile Court and the teens were later released to their parents.

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