A Philadelphia teenager was sentenced to up to 10 years in state prison after pleading guilty to nearly striking two state troopers and multiple road workers during a high-speed chase in a stolen car, officials said Thursday.
Keniel Ian Junio Wright pleaded guilty earlier this month to aggravated assault, fleeing or attempting to elude an officer, receiving stolen property, reckless endangerment and other offenses.
Wright, now 19, was accused of leading police on a nine-mile chase that began in Salisbury Township in the early morning hours of May 9, 2024.
State troopers first spotted the then-17-year-old driving erratically along Lincoln Highway near Brackbill Road and attempted to pull him over, the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office said in a press release.
Instead of stopping, however, Wright accelerated through an active construction zone, nearly hitting five workers, prosecutors said.
He also ran over several traffic cones and entered the lane of oncoming traffic multiple times, reaching speeds of more than 130 mph. He at one point nearly caused a head-on collision with a tractor-trailer and almost struck two state troopers in their police vehicle.
Wright ultimately crashed the stolen car onto a property on Lincoln Highway East and was taken into custody a short time later.
After his arrest, Wright told police that he’d stolen the vehicle from a stranger the day before.
Lancaster County Judge Jeffrey Conrad sentenced Wright to three-and-a-half to 10 years in state prison and a year of concurrent probation, the DA’s office said.
When handing down the sentence, Conrad compared Wright’s actions to a scene from the Grand Theft Auto video game, saying that people, including Wright, could have lost their lives.
