13 June 2023
INDEPENDENCE, Kan. (KSNW) — A van stolen out of Sedgwick County has been recovered after a multi-county chase involving two sheriff’s departments and the Kansas Highway Patrol.
The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office says it began Thursday evening shortly after 8 p.m. when they were notified by the Elk County Sheriff’s Office of a pursuit that was heading into their county. Deputies had attempted to stop a van that had been reported stolen in Sedgwick County.
The driver refused to stop and led deputies on a chase through portions of Elk and extreme northeast Chautauqua County. Law enforcement lost sight of the vehicle near 2300th Road and 3400 Road.
Montgomery and Elk County deputies, with assistance from the Kansas Highway Patrol, set up a perimeter. A Montgomery County Deputy deployed a drone, and a KHP plane with infrared flew over the area to try to locate the two suspects and the van, but nothing was found.
Shortly after 9 a.m. Friday, the sheriff’s office received the report of a stolen ATV taken from a barn in the same area where the pursuit from the previous night ended. A deputy patrolling in the area had moments earlier spotted two people riding an ATV.
Deputies searched the area but couldn’t find the suspects or the ATV. However, they did locate the stolen van abandoned in a field.
Shortly before 1:30 p.m., a deputy patrolling in Independence recognized the alleged suspects outside of a fast-food restaurant near Main and 10th Street, and they were taken into custody. The female suspect allegedly admitted to deputies that they had hidden the ATV behind a vacant property at 15th and Poplar and tossed the van’s keys onto the roof of the house. The keys were recovered.
The pair have been booked into the Montgomery County Jail on suspicion of burglary, criminal damage to property, possession of stolen property, and interference with a law enforcement officer.
It is KSN policy not to identify suspects until they have been formally charged with a felony.