Teen officially charged after police chase stolen SUV in...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Police have officially charged one of the teens involved in this chase in a stolen SUV.

Investigators said Jatarius McCracking and another teen stole the SUV Thursday morning.

Police ended up chasing them up the Brookshire Freeway before they jumped out and ran into the woods in northwest Charlotte.

From Chopper 9, the thieves could be seen in the trees, then on a dirt road before being caught.

Officers arrested the two teens more than four hours after Angie Honeycutt had reported it stolen from her driveway off Valleydale Drive.

IMAGES: Police chase in northwest Charlotte

Terry Honeycutt said he had left the SUV running to warm up around 6:40 a.m. and when he came back out, it was missing.

“I was devastated. No! That's my car,” Angie Honeycutt said when she realized her car was missing.

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Police said a license plate reader posted in east Charlotte spotted the car several hours later and they began to chase it, but backed off once the police helicopter was overhead and tracking it.

The police helicopter and Chopper 9 followed the car as it traveled up Brookshire Boulevard and eventually turned off into a field where the two occupants jumped out and tried to run.

Officers were able to arrest them without incident and by 1 p.m. Angie Honeycutt had her SUV back.

Several of my friends sent me texts and said, "Your car's on TV. Your car's on TV," she said.

After inspecting it, she said it would need a good washing, but otherwise appeared to be fine.

She has learned a lesson she’s eager to pass on: Don’t leave your car running without anyone watching it.

“I've had like 15 people text me and say, 'I've done that every morning,' so I've just encouraged them, learn from our mistake (and) don't ever do it again,” she said.

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