San Diego

Two teen-agers in a stolen truck were apprehended Tuesday afternoon after a 40-minute chase through three cities, police said.

The driver, a 14-year-old male, and his 16-year-old passenger both claimed to be gang members, according to police spokesman Bill Robinson. They were booked into Juvenile Hall on suspicion of auto theft, resisting arrest and a variety of traffic violations.

Suspicious neighbors called police shortly before 2 p.m. to report five males apparently stripping a truck in the 7200 block of Farmdale Street in Southeast San Diego, Robinson said. Police Sgt. Frank Bucheit and Officer Larry Darwent were heading to the scene in separate patrol cars when the truck sped by them with two teen-agers inside, Robinson said.

For 40 minutes, the truck led police officers from San Diego and National City on a wild pursuit through Southeast San Diego, Spring Valley and National City, he said. The patrol cars were assisted by a San Diego Police Department helicopter, Robinson said.

The driver of the truck ran red lights and stop signs, drove on the wrong side of the street and crossed over a center divider on Plaza Boulevard in National City and struck a boulder, flattening the truck’s right front tire, Robinson said. The truck eventually stopped at 14th Street and Euclid Avenue in National City, and the youths were arrested, he said.

The pickup truck was reported stolen from Chula Vista on Oct. 9, police said, and a shell that had apparently been removed from the truck was found at the house on Farmdale Street.