Law enforcement make arrests in stolen vehicle spree
Center — On the night of Oct. 3, two juveniles allegedly stole a vehicle and burglarized properties on the Santee Sioux Nation. Santee Law Enforcement noticed the reported vehicle and when a traffic stop was attempted the vehicle fled until it wrecked in Verdel. The two youth escaped, allegedly stole another vehicle and returned to Charles Mix County in South Dakota.
On Oct. 4, at about 5:35 p.m., Gerald Steffen reported the theft of his red 2004 Dodge Ram SLT pickup. Steffen said the vehicle was last seen around 5 p.m., Oct. 4, parked in the parking lot of Steffen’s Inc., located in Crofton. It is believed the theft is connected with the theft of a red 2009 Saturn Outlook XR Sport Utility taken from Verdel earlier in the morning.
The Knox County Sheriff’s Office was notified that Gerald Steffen’s pickup was recovered Oct. 5, around 12:50 a.m., in Bon Homme County, S.D. The suspects fled on foot and were not captured. Also on Oct. 5, at about 12:51p.m., the Knox County Sheriff’s Office was notified by the Sioux Falls, S.D., Police Dept., that they had recovered the red 2009 Saturn Outlook XR Sport Utility stolen from Verdel.
Later that same day, Santee Law Enforcement noticed a stolen vehicle parked at the 10-plex. A review of the video surveillance showed it appeared to be the same youth officers dealt with Wednesday night.
Yankton Sioux Nation Law Enforcement, using information received from the Santee Sioux Nation Police Department, located the alleged suspects Friday evening and were led on a pursuit throughout Yankton Sioux Territory, eventually wrecking north of Marty. The suspects managed to use cover of night to escape the area and allegedly stole three more vehicles before arriving back at Santee Sioux Territory.
At approximately 1 p.m., Oct. 6, the latest stolen vehicle, this one from Cedar County, was spotted with the alleged suspects in it near the College in Santee. When the suspects spotted a Santee police car parked next to the church they pulled in at the police car and then took off into the field east of the College before jumping out of the pickup and fleeing on foot. Officers had anticipated this and three Santee Sioux Nation police cars and two Knox County Sheriff’s Office vehicles converged on the area along with volunteers from the Santee Sioux Nation Fire Department and Santee Sioux Nation EMS on stand by for medical aid.
Once a perimeter was established Santee Sioux Nation K9 was deployed. When the terrain got too rough for the K9, two officers walked through the extreme terrain and trees on the heels of the suspects. After four hours of tracking, the suspects were captured, thanks to the interagency response.
It’s been reported the youth were allegedly responsible for approximately 12 stolen vehicles in the past two weeks in southeast South Dakota and northeast Nebraska.
Suspects were transported to the Madison Juvenile Detention Center by an officers from each the Santee Sioux Nation Tribal Police and the Knox County Sheriff’s Office. These suspects were not from the Santee area. They were both wanted for Absconding Juvenile Probation in South Dakota.
