SALINE/WHITE COs.--A cross-county expedition by a kid without a driver's license driving his aunt's vehicle without her permission caused quite a bit of action in both Saline and White counties early yesterday morning.
White County issued the report of having contacted one Jennifer Hargrove of Washington Street in Maunie, after Saline County contacted White regarding a 2004 white Pontiac passenger car belonging to her...but in their county.
Hargrove, 35, was the recipient of a call from White authorities telling her they'd made contact with her nephew, Shawn Smith,20, also of Maunie, and wanting her to advise whether or not he'd had permission to have the vehicle.
She advised that he did not.
She then told them that earlier that previous evening (Monday), she'd looked out the door of her residence and noticed the car missing, so her husband had traveled to Carmi and Grayville to look for it. Smith, she suspected, had taken the vehicle, despite the fact that he lacked a valid driver's license...and that she'd previously made it clear to him that he wasn't to drive the vehicle.
As it turned out, the vehicle was being driven in Saline, and that a deputy had tried to stop it. This lead to a high-speed pursuit that lasted for 5 to 8 miles. The driver, later identified as Smith, lost control of the vehicle, hit a mailbox and then went into a ditch.
Smith, along with a female passenger from Elizabethtown, were taken into custody. Neither were injured. While there's no word on the condition of the vehicle, it was taken to Winters Towing Service in Carrier Mills.