By Caroline Zimmerman
The Kansas City Star
CLAY COUNTY, Mo. — After he allegedly stepped out of a stolen vehicle in northeast Kansas City on Monday, a 13-year-old driver reportedly told Clay County sheriff’s deputies that “if people didn’t want their cars stolen, they should not leave them unlocked with the keys inside.”
According to a social media post from the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, deputies apprehended the 13-year-old after they found two vehicles, which had been reported stolen, being driven on Missouri Highway 210 just after 1 a.m.
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Kayden Nolen, 21, and Kevante White, 21, face charges of resisting arrest and tampering with a motor vehicle in connection with the incident, according to Clay County charging documents.
The 13-year-old boy was taken into custody by the Clay County Juvenile Office, the post said.
Deputies attempted to stop the two vehicles as they entered the Missouri 210 Highway entrance ramp from North Chouteau Trafficway, according to a probable cause statement filed in support of Nolen and White’s arrests.
The two cars “took off,” the social media post said. The first car, allegedly driven by Nolen and White, led deputies toward Avondale, Missouri, where the car’s tire was damaged after striking a curb.
The damage made the car “increasingly difficult to operate,” the probable cause statement said. The driver sped near North Kansas City Hospital before entering a field in the 3400 block of North Bellefontaine Avenue, where both men fled.
One of the men surrendered to deputies, the post said.
The other man was eventually apprehended by a K9 officer, according to the sheriff’s office. He was treated for minor dog bite wounds at a hospital before being taken to the Clay County Detention Center.
After Nolen and White were apprehended, deputies pursued the second vehicle, which became disabled near Randolph Road, the post said. It was after deputies ordered the driver to exit the vehicle that they learned he was 13 years old.
Nolen and White are being held in the Clay County Detention Center, according to the jail’s inmate listing.
Nolen is scheduled to appear for a bond reduction hearing April 17, according to court records. White is scheduled to appear for an unspecified hearing May 5.
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