Teens arrested after joyriding in stolen van

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NAUGATUCK — A joyride in a stolen van ended in an accident and the arrest of four area teenagers Saturday.

Two 14-year-old boys from Naugatuck and a pair of 16-year-old boys, one from Waterbury and the other from Oxford, are facing larceny charges after police said they stole a car from Oxford.

Officer Michael Favale said police received a call at about 11:40 p.m. about a reckless driver on Round Tree Drive, which is within the Lantern Park Condo Complex.

When the officers arrived, Favale said, they found a white van on its side on a soccer field in the complex and no one around. A witness told police that four or five teens ran from the scene towards a common house within the complex, he said.

Police investigating the incident found anther teen, who was not involved in the incident, in the common house and were able to find out the identities of and eventually arrest the teenagers in the stolen van, Favale said.

Favale said the van belonged to a neighbor of the Oxford teen. He said the teen noticed the keys in the van as he walked by and decided to take the van and drive to the complex to meet some friends.

While at the complex, the teens decided to drive onto the field and it flipped, he said.

Only two teens were in the car at the time the van flipped over, police said, but police learned that four teens had been riding around in the van during the night.

All four teens, whose names were not released due to their ages, are facing larceny charges. The 14-year-old from Naugatuck was additionally charged with reckless driving. All were given courts dates of April 24 to appear at Waterbury Juvenile Court and released to adult family members.