Charged: 3 teens face felony charges in shoplifting incident, 16-mile police pursuit

WASHINGTON COUNTY -- Three of five Milwaukee suspects arrested in the wake of a shoplifting incident and police pursuit are now charged criminally in connection with the case. 19-year-old Jessie Hinds, 17-year-old Timothy McGee and 17-year-old Kesean Smith are each charged with felony retail theft and criminal damage to property.

Officials say officers were dispatched to the Hartford Walmart shortly before 2:00 a.m. for a report of a retail theft in progress. Those suspects left the store prior to the officers’ arrival.

Officers saw the suspects’ vehicle on W. Sumner St. and attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver refused to stop and a pursuit was initiated. According to the criminal complaint, "the suspect vehicle was traveling at a speed of approximately 80 mph." The officer also noted "he observed that items, which he believed to be Walmart merchandise, were being tossed out of the suspect vehicle."

A short time later, the suspects were headed eastbound Highway 60 at County CC and struck a tire deflation device deployed by the Slinger Police Department. At least one of the vehicle’s tires were deflated in this attempt, but the driver refused to stop. The suspects avoided a second set of stop sticks at Highway 60 and Highway 175. The complaint says one officer reported that "large boxes, suspected to be Walmart merchandise, were being thrown from the suspect vehicle."

Eventually, the suspects headed southbound on Highway 41 until the Washington County Sheriff’s Office was able to deploy tire deflation devices at Highway 41 and Highway 45. Officials say the vehicle drove a short distance on its rims -- traveling between 20 and 40 mph. A short time later, it was disabled near the Mequon Rd. off-ramp. The total distance of the police pursuit was more than 16 miles.

The five suspects were taken into custody without further incident — and nobody was hurt. Again, three of the suspects have been charged. Two others, ages 14 and 15, were not noted in this criminal complaint.

The investigation led to the recovery of multiple stolen Walmart sound bars and televisions that the suspects threw from their vehicle while fleeing from officers. The complaint indicates "the value of the Walmart property recovered inside of the suspect vehicle is $915.94."

A loaded handgun, reported stolen in Milwaukee, was also recovered from the suspects’ vehicle.