Rush, N.Y. — Four teenagers who allegedly stole a 2018 Kia Soul are charged with criminal possession of stolen property.
A deputy from the Monroe County Sheriff's Office saw the vehicle being driven with a smashed window on Rush Scottsville Road near the Youth Detention Center around 1:55 a.m. Wednesday.
The deputy learned the vehicle had been reported stolen in Rochester hours earlier.
Police said the vehicle stopped and the occupants fled before the deputy could make a traffic stop. One occupant was detained immediately, but police needed infrared technology to find the other three in a nearby wooded area.
Three of the suspects are 15 years old. The other is 14. One of the 15-year-old suspects is from Syracuse, while the rest are from Rochester.
The suspects were issued appearance tickets and released to their guardians.
MCSO said 31 vehicles have been reported stolen so far this month and it has recovered 14.
Major Jeff Wagner said there's been a major increase in the past few months of stolen vehicles.
"I think we find that young people maybe don't recognize the long-term consequences of something that seems like it might be fun at the time, or something that might be easy, or that they might get away with it at the time," Wagner said. " Getting away with it is not always a forgone conclusion, and that's something that stays with a young person for a long time. If they're in a car that's stolen with someone whose driving that car, they don't have any control over that car."
On Tuesday, the Rochester Police Department said 200 cars have been stolen in the city alone already this year.