Teens arrested after stealing puffing pickup, crashing near elementary school

A man who left his pickup running for just a few seconds inadvertently triggered a chain of events that resulted in two schools being locked down.

Police say that while the victim was grabbing his coffee Tuesday morning, a group of teens jumped into his Toyota and started backing out. The victim saw what was happening and chased his truck. The teens got away, but not before crashing into a light-green Honda CRV -- that had also been reported stolen.

An hour later, an officer spotted the Toyota near Union and Constitution. He followed it about a half-mile to Van Buren and Circle, where he tried to pull it over. The vehicle fled and "was seen by numerous officers along its flight south through the city" before crashing in a yard near Twain Elementary School, police said.

Twain Elementary and Mitchell High School were placed on a lockout while officers searched for the teens. District 11 says students and staff remained safe during the lockout and that the move was just precautionary because of the police activity in the area.

The teens were found later Tuesday morning and taken into custody. All are between 14-17 years old.

Police say the Kia that was involved in the original crash was stolen after the homeowner left their garage door open and keys inside the car.