A violent escape and crime spree led police on a 12-hour manhunt for three teenagers across North Texas.
It started Sunday evening when Granbury police say two 16-year-olds and a 15-year-old stole keys and knocked a guard unconscious as they escaped the Rite of Passage Juvenile Detention Center.
Paramedics flew the guard to a Fort Worth hospital for head injuries as law enforcement searched the wooded area around the facility.
Only hours later did law enforcement realize the teens were well on the run after stealing a pick-up truck and two guns from a ranch roughly two miles away, said Deputy Chief Patrick Wiginton with Granbury Police.
Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.
Police were alerted to their new location after an armed robbery was reported in the town of Dublin in neighboring Erath County.
Clerk Cyrstal Williams said the three entered the One Stop, bought cigars, then returned pointing a pistol and a .22 long rifle.
“I was too busy staring at the end of that barrel and that pistol. I went back and forth to each of those guns,” Williams said. “One wrong move and I guarantee they probably would have shot me.”
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
After robbing the store police said the three eluded capture in Erath County and stole an SUV in Morgan Mill.
Traffic cameras in Fort Worth spotted the stolen SUV and law enforcement tracked the vehicle to Lancaster where they fled police again before finally being arrested in Hutchins Monday morning.
“They went on a pretty good crime spree,” said Wiginton. “And from their record and from what they committed just over the night, not your average teenagers.”
The Department of Public Safety worked with multiple agencies overnight to arrest the teenagers.
“It was a long eventful night for several agencies,” said Wiginton. “The state coming in and being that centerpiece was a big help.”
Wiginton said the teens will now face a long list of additional charges and it will be up to the courts to decide if they will be tried as adults.
According to the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, one of the teenagers was initially being held in juvenile detention on a murder charge.
