Police Arrest Teens After Paddle Boat Chase

Police have arrested three teenagers accused of stealing a paddle boat and taking officials on a wild chase Monday evening. According to officials, they received a call that night claiming that three juveniles had stolen a paddle boat. Officials responded to the scene on their powerboat, but the teens tried to outrun the police's engined boat with their paddles. "First, stealing something like that and, second of all, trying to get away, I mean, if I saw any normal person, a casual observer or whatever you want to call it, sees a boat like this, with flashing blue lights and a siren coming at you, you would normally stop, not paddle faster," said Bal Harbor Police Detective Paul Eppler.Authorities said the teenagers who tried to get away were between 15 and 16 years of age. "I don't know how much of a chase human power against twin 250s would be," said Eppler, referring to the two engines powering the police vessel. The teenagers are facing charges of grand theft, burglary and resisting arrest without violence. All three of the teenagers, police said, have serious criminal backgrounds. "Whether this is just a case of kids being kids, I don't know, but because of their past, we're obviously taking this pretty seriously," said Eppler. Officials said that during the chase, two of the teens jumped in the water when they realized they were outpowered and swam to shore. "They did the better thing by bailing from that boat and swim faster than they could paddle that," Eppler noted.