Dylan C. MacRitchie, a sixteen year-old teen, pleaded not guilty Thursday in Washington County criminal court to a felony charge of eluding a law enforcement officer in a negligent manner and a misdemeanor charge of leaving the scene of a crash with property damage resulting. If convicted of both charges, he faces a maximum of seven years in prison and a $3,000 fine.

According to the police report,  an officer spotted MacRitchie’s Toyota 4runner leave an empty parking lot with no rear lights on. Because the vehicle was dark in color and it was still dark outside, the officer decided to followed it and pull it over because of the hazard of not having rear lights.

Police say MacRitchie then was clocked going 40 in a 25 zone and blew through a stop sign. The officer then clicked on his blue lights to pull the vehicle over, but police say MacRitchie kept driving.

After a short chase, MacRitchie slammed into a tree, cutting up a neighbors lawn and running over shrubbery. Immediately after, 6 kids poured from the car and ran for the hills. Six of them stopped running when told to by police, but MacRitchie kept running, according to the affidavit. 

After speaking to all of the kids involved, officers found the group to contain three 14 year-olds, a 15 year-old, a 16-year old, and an 18 year-old. All six admitted drinking at least one alcoholic beverage that night and said MacRitchie had supplied the alcohol. They also said MacRitchie decided to run from police, even though others in the vehicle told him to stop.

Later on Nov. 11, police say, MacRitchie came to the police station and was interviewed by officers. Police say MacRitchie wrote in his statement that the reason for fleeing was because he was scared and the reason for the crash was brake failure. Sounds like a likely story for a teen that doesn’t want to take any of the blame.