A joyride in a stolen SUV came to an abrupt end for two 15-year-old boys this afternoon when the 2005 Chevrolet Trailblazer slammed into a tree on Port Jamaica Drive.
The passenger, Brian Overby, a McGavock High School student, was ejected as a result of the crash. He was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in critical condition. The driver, a Cohn Alternative School student, received minor injuries and has been charged at Juvenile Court with aggravated assault (due to Overby’s injuries), auto theft, evading police, driving without a license, loitering during school hours, and marijuana possession.
Hermitage Precinct Officer Jeb Johnston, who was running stationary radar on Tulip Grove Road at 12:45 p.m., waved the Trailblazer over for traveling 58 mph in a 30 mph zone. The driver stopped, claimed to be 16, but couldn’t produce a license. Just after Overby shouted obscenities to Officer Johnston, the driver put the Trailblazer into gear and sped away. Officer Johnston pursued the vehicle for a short distance before discontinuing due to traffic and safety issues. A few minutes later, the same Trailblazer passed Officer Johnston traveling in the opposite direction on New Hope Road. Johnston saw that the SUV turned onto Port Jamaica Drive. He turned around without his emergency equipment activated and drove up on the crash. As Officer Johnston arrived, the driver was spinning the tires trying to get away despite the ejection of the passenger.
The 15-year-old driver was treated at Summit Medical Center before being booked at Juvenile Court. He asked for a lawyer and refused to answer questions from police.
The SUV was stolen March 23 from a Bell Road apartment complex in Hermitage.
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