Family feud results in one dead teen, violent altercation and a wild police chase

'They held him at knife point. They tied him up and placed him in a closet.'

Three Washington County teens in Tennessee led police on a 15-mile police chase before a 15-year-old boy lost control of the vehicle, which then rolled and launched a 14-year-old girl through the windshield.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The unbelievable chase all began Monday, June 20, when three teenagers, two boys and a girl aged 14 and fifteen-years-old, gathered to rob and beat an innocent man.

According to The Erwin Record, the teens were dropped off at Roger Briggs' home prior to the attack.

Sheriff Mike Hensley explained Briggs was not at home when the teens arrived, so they waited.

"When he returned, they grabbed him and assaulted him," Hensley described. "...They beat him. He had blunt-force trauma to his head and about his body."

"They held him at knife point. They tied him up [with bungee cords and a belt] and placed him in a closet."

Hensley reported the teens were after Briggs due to an altercation the group had on Saturday, June 18. Apparently, Briggs owed his brother $100 and the teens were there to collect.

In a shocking twist to the terrifying story, the teens who beat Briggs were his own blood - his brother's grandchildren.

The teens stole Briggs' truck and a few chainsaws then fled after pushing him into the closet, Hensley reported.

"At approximately 12:30 p.m. we received a 911 call," Hensley said. "A person had been robbed and tied up in his residence. He was able to free himself and went to a deputy who lived close by and used the phone to call 911.

"A (be-on-the-lookout) was put out on the suspect's vehicle. My chief deputy (Frank Rogers) and other officers spotted the vehicle a short time after the 911 call around Exit 40."

Rogers attempted to stop the truck but the driver, a 15-year-old boy, refused to stop. The teens led authorities on a high-speed chase and lost control while negotiating a turn.

A crash report by the Tennessee Highway Patrol read: "As a result, (the truck) rolled several times before coming to a final rest on its top."

One of the teens, 14-year-old Lacey Burton, was launched through the truck's windshield and none of the teens wore seat belts.

Burton was reported dead at the scene.

Hensley admitted no one knew the suspects were teenagers until after the crash.

"All these subjects were juveniles," Hensley stated. "Of course, we did not know that at the time of the call. The call was vague on what had happened, other than that the victim had been tied up and held at knife point and had been assaulted."

Though the vehicle resulted in the death of a teenage girl, Hensley reported the entire chase was "by the book," adding: "All of it is on video. We have witnesses to the crash. They lost control of the vehicle and rolled the vehicle several times. None of the officers' vehicles made contact with that vehicle whatsoever."

Two handguns and a large hunting knife were discovered at the scene of the crash and the Unicoi County Sheriff's Department is expected to charge the two remaining teens with especially aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, aggravated kidnapping, theft of a vehicle of $1,000, theft over $500 and evading arrest.

There have been no charges filed against the adult who dropped the teens off at Briggs' home and is currently claiming they had no idea what the teens were planning to do.

Both boys are being held in the Juvenile Detention Center in Johnson City and are scheduled to appear in juvenile court in Washington County on Wednesday, June 22.

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