Wild Houston Street Chase for Thieves

Expensive designer jeans - the downfall of criminals! The police - and onlookers - ended up chasing a pair of women who had been using a stolen credit card in Soho for many blocks yesterday afternoon.

A cashier at the True Religion denim store on Prince Street noticed that Frances Chanelle was using a stolen Discover card - and a forged Virginia's driver license - when buying $1,500 in clothing, so the store called the police. Chanelle left the store with police following her, and got into a Nissan Altima where her friend Shauna King was driving. The pair took off, even hitting a police officer who was standing near a cab, but they got stuck in traffic on West Houston (of course). When traffic cleared up, King continued east on Houston and ended up hitting two cars, almost hitting a Emergency Services cop, sideswiping a number of cars, and hitting a pedestrian!

Renee Padmore, driving behind her, decided to follow King. When King's car blew a tire at Second Avenue and King and Chanelle tried to run, Padmore made her 18-year-old son chase the pair. Padmore told the Post, "A cop told him he was jaywalking but he said, 'No, that lady went that way. We're trying to chase her.'" The Post reported that Chanelle was charged with grand larceny while King was charged with attempted assault, reckless endangerment, vehicular assault and leaving the scene of an accident.

Image from Live Maps