Next court date set for teens allegedly involved in Sunday’s car theft

By Gary Scott on September 27, 2017 at 12:44pm

A pair of juveniles arrested Sunday evening regarding a reportedly stolen vehicle out of Springfield made their first appearances in Morgan County court yesterday.

Shortly after 4 p.m. on Sunday, officers with the Jacksonville Police Department stopped a car in the 300 block of East Lafayette after running the vehicle’s plates and realizing that it had been reported stolen.

During the course of the traffic stop, three of the five occupants fled on foot with one being apprehended a short time later, while the other two suspects remained in the car. Upon detaining the one fleeing subject, police found that the 16-year old male of Springfield was in possession of a loaded firearm. The other two subjects eventually got away from officers, and are believed to have stolen yet another vehicle from the 400 block of East College roughly one hour after the initial traffic stop.

Morgan County Assistant State’s Attorney Chad Turner is handling the case, and according to Turner, two of the male juveniles made their first court appearance yesterday, while the third, a 15-year old female of Jacksonville, was released into the custody of her parents.

As for the two on trial, Turner says that their next court date has been set for October 26th at 9 a.m.