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Girls Caught Driving 2 of 14 Stolen Cars

Police Say Teen Girls Will Face Questioning

Posted: 8:13 am EDT September 12, 2007Updated: 10:16 am EDT September 12, 2007

Police said they will question two teenage girls about the thefts of 14 vehicles from an auction lot after the teens were found driving two of them, WRTV-TV in Indianapolis reported.

Twelve of the 14 vehicles still were missing Tuesday after the weekend theft from Adesa Southern Indiana auto auction, Bartholomew County Sheriff Mark Gorbett said.

Two vehicles were confiscated Monday morning from two girls, ages 16 and 17, who were pulled over and cited for driving without licenses on Interstate 65 in Johnson County, police said.

"They were braking, slowing down real quick like, so the other would have to swerve out of the way real fast," Gorbett said. "Somebody saw it and thought it was road rage."

The thefts were reported Monday morning, but the information had not been relayed to the Johnson County deputies who stopped the girls until after they were released from a juvenile detention center, authorities said.

"There was no way to verify that the vehicles were stolen," Johnson County Sheriff Terry McLaughlin said Tuesday.

The cars -- 2003 to 2006 models with a total value of about $200,000 -- were taken sometime between Friday evening and Monday morning, sheriff's Lt. Rob Kittle said.

Authorities said keys were inside each of the stolen vehicles while they were on the auction center's lot, which is about 30 miles south of Indianapolis. Whoever stole the vehicles lifted a metal fence and drove the vehicles underneath, police said.

The cars taken from the girls -- a Honda Accord and a Nissan Altima -- were scratched, probably by the fence, police said.

Police said they believe the theft was an organized effort by several people. 

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