A 13-year-old girl is facing multiple charges after allegedly stealing a pickup truck, driving drunk, and crashing it along Interstate 40 in northern Arizona early Tuesday morning, authorities said.
AAA Study Finds Nearly All Drivers Engage in Road Rage
The Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) said the crash happened around 1 a.m. near Flagstaff after troopers received a report of a wrong-way driver heading eastbound. A deputy spotted the white Chevrolet Silverado crossing the median and swerving into oncoming lanes before the driver regained control and accelerated past 100 mph.
Moments later, the truck veered onto a guardrail, flipped several times, and slammed into a tree, DPS said. The crash was so severe that the steering wheel was torn from the column and thrown nearly 50 feet from the wreck. Both the 13-year-old driver and her 11-year-old passenger were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Authorities said the pickup had been reported stolen earlier from the Flagstaff Police Department’s jurisdiction. Troopers at the scene noted the girl displayed “six out of six signs of intoxication,” and later testing showed a blood alcohol concentration of 0.183 — more than twice Arizona’s legal limit for adults and far above the state’s zero-tolerance policy for minors.
Photos released by DPS show the truck crumpled against a line of trees, its roof crushed and front end mangled.
In a Facebook statement, DPS urged parents to talk to their children about underage drinking and unlicensed driving. “We’re thankful the kids are okay, but this could’ve ended way worse,” the agency said.
The teen is expected to face DUI and reckless driving charges, along with additional counts related to the stolen vehicle, officials confirmed.
Images via AZDPS Highway Patrol/Fox News
Join our Newsletter, subscribe to our YouTube page, and follow us on Facebook.
