Three young brothers broke into a New Iberia wrecker yard, stole a car and led Louisiana State Police on a high-speed chase near Delcambre during the wee hours of the morning Monday, local law enforcement authorities said.

The pursuit ended after the driver crashed the stolen 1993 blue Ford Taurus into a ditch along Claude LeBlanc Road along Louisiana 14, said State Police spokesman David Anderson.

All three suspects — two who are juveniles — continued to run from police until they were eventually detained by several additional state troopers and Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies who also had given chase.

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Lynn J. Champagne, 17, 68 Cedar Hill Circle, New Iberia, was arrested and charged with simple burglary and contributing to the delinquency of juveniles. He was booked into the Iberia Parish Correctional Center and later released on $25,000 bond.

His two younger brothers, ages 14 and 16,  were both issued a summons to appear in court.

The suspects were first spotted in the car around 2:30 a.m. Monday while they were parked along Louisiana 14. A state trooper saw them on the side of the road and attempted to initiate a routine traffic stop, Anderson said, when the vehicle sped away. 

Exceeding speeds of 80 mph at times, Anderson said the Taurus led police on a chase through several parish roads and Louisiana 329 before crashing in the ditch along Claude LeBlanc Road.

After their arrest, at least one of the suspects told police the car had been stolen from Courrege’s Wrecker Yard on West Main Street in New Iberia. 

According to police records, the boys’ residence is adjacent to the wrecker yard, which one Courrege employee said likely facilitated the burglary.

“I guess it was the only car they could find with the keys in it that worked,” said Richard Duhe, an employee at the wrecker yard who added the boys appeared to have cut a chain link fence at the yard.

Duhe said the boys took the license plate from the vehicle of an acquaintance of their mother before heading toward Delcambre.

On Tuesday afternoon, Duhe said he was attempting to contact police again to file additional charges after discovering damage to vehicles in the yard he said appeared to have occurred while the boys were “joyriding.”