A bad decision by two Effingham County teenagers to joyride without a license turned into a worse one to lead deputies on a pursuit that damaged two cars.

The teens, ages 13 and 15, were arrested early Tuesday morning after the chase ended when a deputy forced their car off the road in the Shadowbrook subdivision.

"These kids made a stupid decision that they’re now going to have to pay for," said Effingham County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Detective David Ehsanipoor.

According to the ECSO, a deputy conducted a routine business check at a local convenience store shortly before 3 a.m. The clerk told the deputy that the two teenagers had been lingering in the store and acting suspiciously.

When the deputy approached the teens in the parking lot, they fled in a Honda Accord belonging to the 15-year-old’s mother, Ehsanipoor said. The teenagers led the deputy on a pursuit down Log Landing Road and into the Shadowbrook subdivision.

The teens "almost struck another deputy head-on" in the subdivision, Ehsanipoor said.

The primary deputy in the chase conducted a P.I.T. (pursuit intervention technique) maneuver and forced the Accord off the road. Both teenagers ran into a wooded area but were captured by deputies a short time later.

The teens told investigators they had been out joyriding and panicked when the deputy approached them, simply because they were out after curfew.

"If they had just pulled over, the driver would’ve received a citation for driving without a license and they both would have been charged with being out after curfew," Ehsanipoor said. "Then we would have just turned them over to their parents.

"But now they’re really in trouble."

The 15-year-old driver was charged with felony fleeing and attempting to elude a law enforcement officer, reckless driving, interference with government property and obstruction of a law enforcement officer.

The 13-year-old passenger was charged with obstruction of a law enforcement officer.

Despite the young ages of the two teens involved, Ehsanipoor defended the deputy’s decision to pursue the fleeing car.

"When deputies are in a pursuit, they have no idea why the suspects are running," he said. "Typically, when people run, they have done something much more serious than this."

 No

one was injured in the chase, according to the ECSO. The rear of the suspects’ vehicle sustained "moderate damage" and the front of the patrol car had minor damage from the PIT maneuver.