Cedar Rapids teen steals pickup, runs from police

It's going to be a while before 16-year-old Duval Walker gets his license.

Walker, of Cedar Rapids, was arrested early Wednesday morning after police say he ran stop signs and refused to pull over for police while he was driving a stolen pickup. One of two passengers in the pickup had an open bottle of vodka, police said.

An officer at Bever Avenue and 16th Street SE saw a pickup run a stop sign around 2:25 a.m., but when he turned on his lights, the driver would not pull over. The pickup ran another stop sign at Fourth Avenue and 16th Street SE before it turned into an alley and three people ran from it, according to the police report.

Officers chased after two of the people and the third was not located. A K-9 unit dog eventually located Walker, whose 16th birthday was Friday, hiding under a tree a few blocks away.

The second man, Benjamin Harper Jr., 22, ran the opposite direction. An officer found him lying on a porch in the 1500 block of Washington Avenue SE.

Walker was arrested on suspicion second-degree theft, failing to yield to an emergency vehicle, no driver's license, no insurance and disobeying a traffic control device. He was transported to the Linn County Detention Center.

Harper faces charges of open container, public intoxication and interference with official acts. He was taken to the Linn County Jail.

Sgt. Cristy Hamblin said investigators were not sure how Walker was able to steal the pickup. When they called the registered owner, he was surprised that it had gone missing, she said. An investigation was continuing.