Two alleged car thieves in Tuscaloosa are in custody after they caused multiple accidents and drew a huge police presence to Skyland Boulevard Monday afternoon.

Stephanie Taylor, a spokesperson for the Tuscaloosa Police Department, said officers in the Criminal Investigations Division have been looking into a series of vehicle thefts in the area. On Monday afternoon, they got information that a stolen car they were seeking had been spotted at Branscomb Apartments, a public housing complex off Highway 69 South. 

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The investigators drove to the apartments and were speaking to a pair of suspects there when they reportedly broke away from police, jumped into another vehicle and fled the scene.

Taylor said the TPD investigators and a Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's deputy in another vehicle followed the alleged car thieves but "were not at any time engaged in a pursuit."

The suspect driver then allegedly ran through a red light and was struck by another vehicle on Skyland Boulevard in front of the Chick-fil-A there. One of those cars went on to strike at least one more, but police are still working through how many vehicles were involved and how exactly they came to be damaged.

After the wrecks, witnesses said short foot pursuits led police and the suspects through a flooded drainage ditch off Skyland and close to if not inside the nearby Walk-Ons Sports Bistreaux.

Amidst all that chaos, a large number of police and emergency personnel flooded the area.

Ultimately though, two suspects were taken into custody and driven to the CID office where charges are expected to be filed against them.

(Tuscaloosa Police Department)
(Tuscaloosa Police Department)
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