Hamilton police chief arrests 11-year-old boy after car chase in downtown Hamilton

An 11-year-old boy was arrested by Hamilton police chief Frank Bergen after a brief car chase Friday afternoon in downtown Hamilton.

Officers say a quick car chase through the city ended with a stolen van crashing into a house in the area of King Street East and Tisdale Street South.

Police say an orange van was being driven by an 11-year-old boy who was fleeing police at a high rate of speed, when the boy lost control.

Investigators say it all began at around 1:30 p.m., with a report of kids driving a vehicle near the Tim Hortons at Sanford Avenue North and Cannon Street East.

Officers say the kids were in the stolen orange van and another stolen vehicle – a Mercedes – when both vehicles fled to try and escape.

The Mercedes went southbound on Wentworth Street and hit a pedestrian, who was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Hamilton Paramedic Service superintendent David Thompson told CHCH News that a woman in her 50s was transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries and in stable condition.

Police say the kids then abandoned the Mercedes in the city’s east end.

Meanwhile, detectives say the van fled the Tim Hortons going westbound on King Street East before it crashed.

Thompson also confirmed that a pediatric patient was transported to a local hospital with minor injuries.

Paramedics declined to confirm if either person had a broken leg.

This is the second time an 11-year-old has been tied to a stolen vehicle investigation since the end of May.

In a separate incident in June, two young people aged 11 and 15, had allegedly forced their way into a detached garage on a rural property in West Lincoln, and stole a white Chevrolet Silverado and a white Jeep Cherokee.

Investigators were able to locate and arrest both boys later that day.

Children under the age of 12 cannot be charged for a criminal offence in Canada, and because they are under the age of 18 police have not disclosed their identities.

READ MORE: Hamilton police arrest boys, 11 and 15, for Niagara vehicle thefts