Cops on Seatbelt Detail Bag Mass. Teen on Stolen Car Rap

SALEM, NH - A Massachusetts man will be in court in July for allegedly stealing a car as well as other charges, according to police.

Alexis Santiago, 18 of Lowell, MA, was arrested on May 23, 2016, and charged with receiving stolen property, resisting arrest, and operating after suspension.

Editor’s note: This post was derived from information supplied by the Salem Police Department. It does not indicate a conviction. Click this link, which explains New Hampshire Patch's police log name removal policy.

According to Capt. Joel Dolan, officers were participating in a statewide seatbelt initiative – Join the NH Clique – when a Massachusetts teenager allegedly drove by them in a stolen vehicle.

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Part of Join the NH Clique, he noted, was to ensure drivers under 18 are wearing seatbelts and that young children are properly restrained in the vehicles. The initiative is funded by a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration grant.

At just before 6 p.m. as the officers were setting up the detail near the Mall at Rockingham Park, they saw a vehicle that looked like one that had been reported stolen earlier in the day.

“The vehicle had also just fled officers in Lawrence minutes prior to being located in Salem,” Dolan noted. “Officers working the detail observed a male and female walking away from the vehicle. As they attempted make contact both the male and female suspect fled on foot.”

The female suspect – and girl from Lowell, MA – was quickly located; the male, however, ran through the mall, onto Pleasant Street, and then was stopped by officer near the Mobil gas station at the intersection of Pleasant and Policy streets.

The girl was charged with resisting and released to her parents. Santiago was charged, processed, and released, and is due in court on July 11.