UPDATE: Youth Home Runaways Hijack Limo

UPDATE: Pittsburgh police have located five of the six teen runaways accused of setting fire to a Mars area youth home and stealing a limo.

Adams Township police said a half-dozen teen runaways from the Mars Home for Youth hijacked a limousine early Wednesday morning, leaving the driver stranded.

Adams Township Police Chief Bill Westerman said six teenage boys and girls are missing from the facility for troubled youths on Route 228. The missing teens are from communities around Western Pennsylvania, including Allegheny, Westmoreland, Cambria, and Erie counties, he said.

Police were called to the home three times early Wednesday because teens were trying to escape from the non-secured facility, he said. The first call, around midnight, involved three missing boys.

The last call came around 4:30 a.m. for a small fire started at the home by one of the teens, he said. Three girls from the home were reported missing at that time, the chief said.

Westerman said he believes someone set the fire as a distraction to help the youths, ages 15 to 18, slip away unnoticed from the facility.

“We think this was all planned ahead,” he said.

Derek DeLucia, owner of Star Limousine Services in Warrendale, said a teen called his driver after 6 a.m. and asked to be picked up at Mars Area High School, which is within walking distance of the youth home. The teen who called the service asked for transportation to the Greyhound bus station in Pittsburgh, he said.

DeLucia said the high school parking lot was empty when the limo driver pulled in, but six boys and girls carrying luggage soon approached him.

He said the driver helped the teens put their bags in the trunk before the group piled into the four-door black Cadillac sedan.

“He then tried to collect the money up front, which is our standard policy,” DeLucia said.

Instead, the youths handed the driver 19 crumpled dollar bills, which DeLucia said would cover only a small portion of the transportation fee.

The group got out the car, but when one of the girls said she had additional money in her duffel bag, the driver got out of the car to retrieve her bag from the trunk.

DeLucia said one of the boys blocked the driver from re-entering the car while one of the girls slipped behind the steering wheel and locked the doors.

He said the girl drove about 40 yards before coming to the stop. The other teens ran to catch up and jumped into the limo before the girl drove away.

“I’ve been in this business for 25-plus years, and I’ve never had anything happen like this before,” DeLucia said.

DeLucia said his driver, who he declined to name, was shaken up but unharmed. He said the teens shut off a cell phone the driver left behind in the car so that it could not be traced.

“He continued to work for the rest of the day,” DeLucia said of his driver, a retired school teacher. “He wanted to stay.” 

Officials from the Mars Home For Youth said they would continue to work with police in their investigation. The home also is conducting an internal investigation.

“MHY remains concerned for the safety of all involved in this incident,” according to a statement released by the home.

"We regret that the individuals involved in the August 3 incident cast a shadow over the achievements of the thousands of people we have helped to realize success at home, at school, in careers and in the community," the statement continued.

Westerman said the license plate for the 2006 black Cadillac is LM25158. The vehicle has the number 34 on the front and back bumpers.

He asks anyone who sees the vehicle to report it to their local police department.

“We’re just hoping nobody gets hurt,” he said.

This story originally appeared on Cranberry Patch