3 teenage girls accused of leading police on chase in stolen van on Pennsylvania Turnpike

JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) -- Three teenage girls are accused of leading police on a chase in a stolen van, hitting speeds of over 95 mph in a construction zone on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Somerset County.

Pennsylvania State Police said troopers on patrol in Jefferson Township saw a white Chevrolet van with a temporary registration erratically driving east on the Pennsylvania Turnpike shortly before 8 a.m. on Dec. 1. When police tried to pull the van over, troopers said it didn't stop and accelerated, hitting speeds of over 95 mph in a construction zone. 

While driving away, police said the van hit three other moving vehicles. The van eventually got off at the Somerset Interchange, hitting another vehicle on North Center Avenue before it was stopped in a gas station parking lot. 

Police said they found three teenage girls inside, ages 16, 14 and 15. All three were taken into custody. 

While investigating, police said they learned the van had been stolen from Brentwood earlier in the morning. Troopers said the three girls had escaped from the New Outlook Academy before the vehicle had been stolen. 

Charges are pending, but police did not specify which charges. The vehicle was returned to its owner, police said. 

According to New Outlook Academy's website, the private high school in Baldwin provides a "comprehensive and safe rehabilitative residential setting" for at-risk teenage girls ages 13 to 18.